HPV Vaccine Remains Effective After 10 Years

Ten years after vaccination, the 3-dose 4-valent human papillomavirus (4vHPV) vaccine remained effective and well tolerated, according to the findings of a recent study.

For their study, the researchers randomly assigned 1661 sexually inactive boys and girls to receive either the 4vHPV vaccine or placebo at day 1, month 2, and month 6. At month 30, participants in the placebo group received the 4vHPV vaccine. All participants were followed for 10 years post-vaccination.
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The researchers assessed long-term anti-HPV type 6, 11, 16, and 18 immune responses and estimated the effectiveness of the vaccine by calculating the incidence rate of HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18-related diseases or persistent infections.

Overall, 89% to 96% of participants remained seropositive for HPV types 6, 11, and 16 during the follow-up. Preadolescent participants had a 38% to 65% higher geometric mean titers at month 7 compared with adolescents, which remained 16% to 42% higher than those who received the vaccine during adolescence 10 years later.

In addition, no HPV type 6, 11, 16, and 18-related diseases occurred during the study period and no new serious adverse events were reported. However, 10 participants had persistent vaccine-type HPV infections for 6 months or more and 2 participants had persistent infections for 12 months or more.

“A 3-dose regimen of the 4vHPV vaccine was immunogenic, clinically effective, and generally well tolerated in preadolescents and adolescents during 10 years of follow-up,” the researchers concluded. “These long-term findings support efforts to vaccinate this population against HPV before exposure.”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Ferris DG, Samakoses R, Block SL, et al. 4-Valent human papillomavirus (4vhpv) vaccine in preadolescents and adolescents after 10 years [published online November 2017]. Pediatrics. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-3947.