Two Dose HPV Vaccination schedule can Provide Long Term Immunogenicity

Release Date: 05-Oct-2019

A recent study published in the journal Clinical Infectious diseases shows that a 2-dose schedule of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in girls was proportional to 3 doses schedule, for a period of about 10 years. The study was performed in Canada, which is a type of randomised clinical trial.

The research involved a group of girl with an age group of 6 to 13 years who were randomized to receive 2 or 3 doses of the quadrivalent vaccine. They are then compared with the women of age group 16 to 26 years who received 3 doses. The study also involved evaluation of the antibody levels at 7, 24 and 120 months after the first dose.

According to the lead author Robine Donken, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow at the Vaccine Evaluation Center and Women’s Health Research Institute at the University of British Columbia, At 10 years after the first dose, antibody responses in girls who received 2 doses 6 months apart were comparable to those in young women who received 3 doses of vaccine. The 2-dose schedule was approved in 2014, partly based on the results of this study up to 36 months, and has since been used as the recommended dosing schedule in many countries worldwide. This study, therefore, demonstrates the long-term immunogenicity of the 2-dose HPV vaccination schedule, which is very reassuring.

Currently, HPV infection is very common among the population. About 80 million people in the United States are infected with some type of HPV, with about 14 million Americans becoming infected each year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HPV is responsible for about 35,000 cases of cancer each year, including cervical, anal, oropharyngeal, and penile cancers.
The HPV vaccine currently is recommended for boys and girls at age 11 or 12.

Donken also added that in this study we only studied the immunogenicity of the HPV vaccine when given with 2 [doses] compared with 3 doses. We are currently following a bigger cohort including over 5800 young women throughout Canada, who have received either 2 or 3 doses of the HPV vaccine.  Further research is needed before any changes to recommended 2-dose schedules.