IARC research informs the latest advice from UK JCVI to reduce the number of doses of HPV vaccine recommended for girls

The United Kingdom Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued interim advice to reduce the number of doses of vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) from two to one for girls younger than 15 years. This new recommendation is based largely on research conducted by scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) over more than a decade.

The IARC researchers demonstrated, through systematic evaluation of almost 6000 participants, that the efficacy of a single dose of HPV vaccine in adolescent girls against persistent infection with HPV types 16 and 18 was the same as that of two or three doses of the vaccine. The results were published in the journal The Lancet Oncology in October 2021.

The JCVI is an expert scientific advisory committee that advises the government of the United Kingdom on matters relating to vaccination and immunization.

Basu P, Malvi SG, Joshi S, Bhatla N, Muwonge R, Lucas E, et al.
Vaccine efficacy against persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 infection at 10 years after one, two, and three doses of quadrivalent HPV vaccine in girls in India: a multicentre, prospective, cohort study
Lancet Oncol, Published online 8 October 2021;
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00453-8

Read the new JCVI interim advice 

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