HPV Vaccine Improves Fertility In Some High-Risk Women

Although HPV vaccination status had little effect on overall fecundability, women with a history of sexually transmitted infections had higher fecundability if vaccinated against HPV than those who were not vaccinated, according to a recent study.

In their study, the researchers analyzed data from 3483 women and 1022 men involved in the Pregnancy Study Online, and followed them for 12 months or until reported pregnancy. Participants reported their HPV vaccination status and their age at vaccination at baseline. The researchers estimated fecundability ratios (FR) using proportional probabilities models, which adjusted for sociodemographics, smoking status, and abnormal Pap test results prior to HPV vaccination.
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The prevalence of HPV vaccination was higher among women (33.9%) than men (5.2%).

While HPV vaccination was found to have a little overall association with fecundability, women with a history of sexually transmitted infections or pelvic inflammatory diseases who received a HPV vaccine had higher fecundability than those who were not vaccinated.

“Although HPV vaccination had little effect on fecundability overall, HPV vaccination was positively associated with fecundability among women with a history of sexually transmitted infections,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

McInerney KA, Hatch EE, Wesselink AK, et al. The effect of vaccination against human papillomavirus on fecundability [published online September 7, 2017]. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. doi:10.1111/ppe.12408.