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

Scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have demonstrated, for the first time, the efficacy of a single dose of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in adolescent girls against persistent infection with HPV types 16 and 18. The results were published in the journal The Lancet Oncology.

Systematic 10-year follow-up of a cohort of about 17 000 female participants who received the quadrivalent HPV vaccine at age 10–18 years demonstrated that the protection offered by a single dose of quadrivalent vaccine against persistent infection with HPV16 and HPV18 (the types responsible for nearly 80% of cervical cancers in low- and middle-income countries) was as high as that offered by two doses or three doses of the vaccine. The vaccine efficacy of a single dose against persistent HPV16/18 infection was 95.4%, which was not significantly different from the efficacy of two doses or three doses of the vaccine.

The researchers’ findings could signal a fundamental shift in the accessibility of vaccination against HPV. Under current recommendations, nearly 60% of low- and middle-income countries have not been able to introduce HPV vaccination into their national immunization programmes because of the high cost and the logistical challenges related to delivering two doses of the vaccine. A recommendation of a single dose would make vaccination programmes against HPV much more affordable and cost-effective for public health decision-makers, potentially enabling those who currently lack access to the vaccine – nearly 90% of adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries – to be as protected against HPV and its associated cancers as their counterparts in high-income countries.

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

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