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Quadrivalent HPV vaccine appears less immunogenic in girls with HIV

SAN FRANCISCO — HIV-infected girls who received the quadrivalent HPV vaccine had significantly lower peak geometric mean titers compared with same-aged HIV-uninfected girls, according to study results presented at ID Week 2013.

“We see a very high rate, as others have of seroconversion in HIV-positive girls given the standard dosing regimen of the quadrivalent vaccine (Gardasil, Merck),” Deborah Money, MD, of the University of British Columbia and the Women’s Health Research Institute, Vancouver, B.C., said during a presentation of late-breaker abstracts. “However, we demonstrated a significantly lower peak [gemoetric mean titers] in these HIV-positive girls compared to HIV-negative girls but we not that those levels are comparable to levels that have demonstrated efficacy against HPV infection and disease.”

The study included 27 girls aged 9 to 13 years (mean age 11 years) and given three doses of qHPV at months 0, 2, and 6. Researchers compared results with same-aged girls without HIV.

HIV-infected girls had significantly lower geometric mean titers at month 7 for HPV types 16 (P<.006), 18 (P<.001), 6 (P<.001), and 11 (P<.001) compared with HIV-uninfected girls. All patients had seroconverted at month 7.

“Without an immune correlative protection, either in HIV-negative or HIV-positive individuals, we still don’t understand entirely the meaning of our antibody titer levels, but the lower response in these HIV-positive girls does give us pause, particularly for vaccine rollout in high HIV-endemic countries,” Money said. “We also believe that the role of booster dosing does remain to be of value.”

For more information:

Money D. Abstract #LB-5. Presented at: ID Week 2013; Oct. 2-6, 2013; San Francisco.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.