Continuing reductions in HPV 16/18 in a population with high coverage of bivalent HPV vaccination in England: an...

The human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation programme in England was introduced in 2008. Monitoring changes in type-specific HPV prevalence allows assessment of the population impact of this vaccination programme.

Residual vulva-vaginal swab specimens were collected from young sexually active women (aged 16-24 years) attending for chlamydia screening across England. Specimens were collected between 2010 and 2013 for type-specific HPV-DNA testing. HPV prevalence was compared to a similar survey conducted in 2008 prior to the introduction of HPV vaccination.

A total of 7321 specimens collected in the postvaccination period, and 2354 specimens from the prevaccination period were included in this analysis. Among the individuals aged 16-18 years, with an estimated vaccination coverage of 67%, the prevalence of HPV16/18 infection decreased from 17.6% in 2008 to 6.1% in the postvaccination period. Within the postvaccination period, there was a trend towards lower HPV16/18 prevalence with higher vaccination coverage and increasing time since vaccine introduction from 8.5% in the period 2-3 years postvaccination to 4.0% in the period 4-5 years postvaccination. The prevalence of HPV31 reduced from 3.7% in the prevaccination period to 0.9% after vaccine introduction, although this no longer reached statistical significance after additional consideration of the uncertainty due to the assay change. Smaller reductions were seen in the individuals aged 19-21 years with lower estimated vaccination coverage, but there was no evidence of a reduction in the older unvaccinated women. Some overall increase in non-vaccine types was seen in the youngest age groups (ORs (95% CI); 1.3 (1.0 to 1.7) and 1.5 (1.1 to 2.0) for individuals aged 16-18 and 19-21 years, respectively, when adjusted for known population changes and the change in assay) although this should be interpreted with caution given the potential unmasking effect.

These data demonstrate a reduction in the HPV vaccine types in the age group with the highest HPV vaccination coverage.