Nairobi — Young men in Kenya could soon start getting a cervical cancer vaccine meant for girls and young women.

The vaccine reduces chances of HIV infection in the men.

After monitoring 2,168 men aged between 18 and 24 in Kisumu, some for 42 months, researchers concluded the vaccine would work for boys.

At the onset of the study in 2002, the researchers found that half the men were infected with a virus called human papillomavirus or HPV.

Some types of the virus are the leading cause of cervical cancer and are also responsible for tumours affecting the vulva, head and neck.

The virus is also known to cause genital warts in both men and women, increasing the risk of exposure to HIV infection.

The study, carried out by the University of North Carolina, Prof Jeckoniah O. Ndinya-Achola of the University of Nairobi, Dr Agot Kawango of the Kisumu-based University of Nairobi and Illinois and Manitoba Project was published in Journals of Infectious Diseases last week.

Alerted by the high rate of HPV in young and sexually active participants, the researchers sought to find if it had a role in HIV transmission.

"After 42 months, 5.8 per cent of the men who were HPV positive at the beginning were HIV positive, compared to 3.7 per cent of the men who did not have HPV," says the study.

Last year the US Federal Drug Administration recommended that Gardsil, a cervical cancer vaccine which is also licensed in Kenya, be given to boys and young men aged 9 to 26 to fight against genital warts.

The vaccine would be administered the same way it is given to girls -- three doses over six months.