Vaccinating both girls and boys can eliminate human papillomavirus infections.

Abstract

Most oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types can be eliminated if both girls and boys are vaccinated, according to a joint Swedish-Finnish study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.1 In a randomized study launched in 2007, a total of 80,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 15 years from 250 schools in 33 towns were invited to participate. In 11 towns, both boys and girls received the HPV vaccine, whereas in 11 other towns, only girls were vaccinated. In the 11 remaining towns, participants were vaccinated against a different virus; these individuals served as the control group. When participants were screened for HPV at age 19 years, vaccination of both sexes was found to prevent HPV infections much more effectively than vaccinating only girls. The both-sexes strategy was also effective in preventing HPV infections in unvaccinated girls. In addition, researchers used mathematical modeling to calculate the impact of the randomized study on programs with different vaccination coverage. Vaccinating both girls and boys is crucial if only 80% or fewer girls are vaccinated. In particular, if only girls are offered HPV vaccination, even a school-based program would not be able to eliminate HPV-16, the most oncogenic virus type. However, the study found that vaccinating both boys and girls at a 75% participation rate can eliminate HPV-16 in individuals aged younger than 30 years, which is the main group believed to be spreading the infection. The authors add that adopting this strategy would eliminate HPV infections within a few years.