HPV Vaccine Remains Highly Protective for as Long as 6.4 Years

Growing confidence in the vaccine should lead to worldwide immunization programs.

When tested in young women, vaccines against two oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPV types 16 and 18) were highly immunogenic and markedly lowered cervical HPV-16/18 infections and cervical pathology for as long as 5.5 years. The duration of this protection, however, is unknown.

In 2001, manufacturer-supported researchers randomized more than 1100 women (age range, 15–25) who were previously uninfected with HPV 16 or 18 to receive three doses of a bivalent HPV-16/18 vaccine or placebo. The investigators now report on extended follow-up of a subset of 776 of these women.

After as long as 6.4 years of follow-up, vaccine efficacy was 95% for preventing incident HPV-16/18 infection, 100% for preventing persistent HPV-16/18 infection, 97% for pr…

Reviewing Author

Bruce Soloway, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsNew RoAR News (http://www.newroarnews.org)

Bruce Soloway, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsNew RoAR News (http://www.newroarnews.org)

HPV Vaccine Remains Highly Protective for as Long as 6.4 Years

Topics

Reviewing Author