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HPV vaccine reduces abnormal Pap tests
According to recent research, women aged between 16 and 26 years have a reduced overall incidence of Pap smear abnormalities following vaccination with the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine.
This research was presented at the 47th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Chicago.
The efficacy of the vaccine in the HPV-naive population to prevent cervical intraepithelial 3 caused by HPV 16/18 was 98% compared with the efficacy to prevent any HPV-induced high grade squamous intraepithelial in the 16-26 year old population, some of whom were already infected was 48%, according to Sven-Eric Olsson, MD, of the Karolinska Institute at Danderyds Hospital, Sweden, told Infectious Diseases in Children.
Participants included women, aged between 16 and 26 years, who were placed in one of three efficacy trials. The women were followed for about three years.
In the generally HPV-naive population, reduced incidences of Pap test abnormalities were observed, according to the researchers.
“This gives us a hint as to what will happen with the total frequency of high grade squamous intraepithelial cells following vaccination,” Olson said. “The reduced burden of cytological abnormalities associated with the quadrivalent vaccine is likely to have a substantial effect on cervical screening programs.”