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National HPV vaccination shows promise in Australia
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Among young people in Australia, a significant decline has been reported in hospital admissions related to a diagnosis of genital warts since the introduction of a national HPV vaccination program, according to recent findings.
Notably, there has been a 90% decrease in genital warts among women aged 12 and 17 years, the researchers wrote.
The researchers acquired data from the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), a dataset composed of admission information from nearly all of Australia’s private and public hospitals. They collected demographic data on the patients, including age, gender and indigenous status, as well as coded information on patient diagnoses and procedures performed. They identified for analysis all NHMD admissions between July 1999 and June 2011, for which a primary or contributory diagnosis of anogenital warts was documented. The investigators stratified the cases by gender and age, with the following four age groups designated: 12 to 17 years, 18 to 26 years, 27 to 30 years and 31 to 69 years. The age ranges were established based on the probable exposure to HPV vaccination, with the youngest groups having high vaccine coverage and the oldest having minimal exposure to vaccination.
The researchers found that among female patients aged 12 to 17 years, there was a decrease in admissions related to genital warts from mid-2007 (annual decline, 44.1%; 95% CI, 35.4-51.6) and a reduction in admissions from mid-2008 for females (31.8%; 95% CI, 28.4-35.2) and males (14%; 95% CI, 5.1-22.1) aged 18 to 26 years.
The researchers also noted reductions in admissions from the 2006-2007 period to the 2010-2011 period. In females aged 12 to 17 years, this overall decrease was 89.9% (95% CI, 84.4-93.4); for females aged 18 to 26 years, the reduction was 72.7% (95% CI, 67-77.5); and for males aged 18 to 26 years, the overall reduction was 38.3% (95% CI, 27.7-47.2). On average, there were approximately 1,000 fewer hospital admissions related to genital warts diagnoses vs. the average number before the vaccine was implemented. There were no indications of variations in these decreases between indigenous and non-indigenous females aged 15 to 24 years.
“These declines are consistent with and strengthen other evidence that suggests that the program has had a rapid and substantial impact on genital warts in young people, including some indirect benefits to males from the female vaccination program,” the researchers wrote. “This study also provides the first indication that the impact of HPV vaccination in young Indigenous females is comparable to that in non-Indigenous females in Australia.”
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of financial disclosures.
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