Publication

Vaccination with moderate coverage eradicates oncogenic human papillomaviruses if a gender-neutral strategy is applied

Authored by:

Vänskä, S., Luostarinen, T., Baussano, I., Apter, D., Eriksson, T., Natunen, K., ... & Söderlund-Strand, A.

Full Citation:

Vänskä, S., Luostarinen, T., Baussano, I., Apter, D., Eriksson, T., Natunen, K., ... & Söderlund-Strand, A. 2020. Vaccination with moderate coverage eradicates oncogenic human papillomaviruses if a gender-neutral strategy is applied. The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

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Additional key concepts from this publication:

Herd effects multiply the benefits of immunization.

Key Evidence: A Swedish-Finnish study conducted between 2007-2014 found that vaccinating both girls and boys against HPV (a gender-neutral vaccination strategy) could lead to the eradication of the most common cancer-causing types of the virus through stronger herd immunity. The study randomized HPV vaccination interventions across 33 towns (gender neutral HPV, girls-only HPV, and a control non-HPV vaccination), including 80,000 adolescents between ages 12 and 15. Results of general HPV screening at the age of 19 showed that gender-neutral vaccination prevented HPV infections much more effectively than vaccinating girls only.