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Vaccine cut HPV prevalence by more than half in teen girls
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The prevalence of vaccine-type HPV decreased significantly among girls aged 14 to 19 years within 4 years of the vaccine’s introduction, researchers from the CDC reported in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
“The decline in vaccine type prevalence is higher than expected and could be due to factors such as herd immunity, high effectiveness with less than a complete three-dose series and/or changes in sexual behavior we could not measure,” Lauri Markowitz, MD, of the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, said in a press release. “This decline is encouraging, given the substantial health and economic burden of HPV-associated disease.”
Markowitz and colleagues analyzed the prevalence of HPV during the vaccine era (2007-2010) and the prevaccine era (2003-2006) using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. They determined HPV prevalence from cervicovaginal swab samples from females aged 14 to 59 years. From the prevaccine era, there were 4,150 samples, and from the vaccine era, there were 4,253 samples.
Among girls aged 14 to 19 years, the vaccine-type HPV prevalence was 11.5% in the prevaccine era (95% CI, 9.2-14.4). In the vaccine era, the prevalence was 5.1% (95% CI, 3.8-6.6), which is a decline of 56% (95% CI, 38-69). In this age group, 62.5% had received all three doses of the vaccine and 34.1% had received at least one dose. The estimated vaccine effectiveness of at least one dose was 82% (95% CI, 53-93).
Thomas R. Frieden
“This report shows that HPV vaccine works well, CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, said in a press release. “The report should be a wake-up call to our nation to protect the next generation by increasing HPV vaccination rates. Unfortunately, only one-third of girls aged 13 to 17 have been fully vaccinated with HPV vaccine. Countries such as Rwanda have vaccinated more than 80% of their teen girls. Our low vaccination rates represent 50,000 preventable tragedies — 50,000 girls alive today will develop cervical cancer over their lifetime that could have been prevented if we reach 80% vaccination rates.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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