CORRECTION APPENDED (SEE BELOW)Students who wish to receive a vaccine for the human papillomavirus from the Golding Health Center will have to pay for it, Kathleen Maloney, the center's administrator, said.

Gardisil, the HPV vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration last July, is given in three doses totaling $375. The Health Center currently offers Gardisil, Maloney said, but at cost to students covered by MegaLife, Brandeis' health insurance, which currently covers approximately 600 undergraduates and 900 graduate students.

Though the vaccine has only been around for a few months, some Brandeis students said they would like MegaLife to cover it. Vicki, Sarah and Joanna Bedell, all members of the Class of 2009, are hoping to get the vaccine covered by MegaLife.

According to Maloney, one of the main concerns over adding the vaccine to the MegaLife plan is that its added cost will cause the cost to students to rise.

In February, the Bedell sisters met with Maloney to see if they could get the vaccine covered by MegaLife, Sarah Bedell said.

"I understand the benefits of the HPV vaccine," Maloney said. "But as somebody involved I have to look at the broader picture . I think it's worth it to look into it and that's what I'm doing. That's my responsibility."

According to the Web site of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV is a common virus that comprises over 100 different strains. Most types of HPV are harmless, but more than 30 sexually transmitted strains of the virus can lead to Genital HPV infection, which in "high-risk" cases can lead to cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, anus or penis and in "low-risk" types can lead to genital warts.

Gardisil, made by the drug corporation Merck, protects against the four major types of HPV, which are known to cause 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts.

"The reason you can contain the cost [of the health insurance plans] is that they're very, very basic," said Maloney.

Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that it's unclear whether the vaccine could be added to the MegaLife plan.

"We have only recently begun to work with our health-insurance agent regarding the student health plan offerings for next year," Sawyer said. "We do not as yet have any notion of whether any insurance provider is willing to include coverage for the vaccine, and, obviously, we have not seen any figures as to how much the vaccine coverage would add to the cost of the plan."

But the Bedells said the benefit of the vaccine outweighs any added costs. "There would be some sort of premium increase" or an increase of co-pay, Sarah said. For example, Vicky said, "a $100 [increase in the premium] might seem like a lot, but it's a significant vaccine."

Maloney also supports a focus on awareness about the benefits of the HPV vaccine.

"It's important to educate the population with regard to what's around in terms of risks and what's around in terms of treatment," said Maloney.


(Due to an editing error, this article originally incorrectly reported that Gardisil, the HPV vaccine, is provided at cost to students who do not have MegaLife. The vaccine is provided at cost to those students who have MegaLife and students with outside insurance are given a receipt for their insurance companies to reimburse them.)