[ad_1]
Having difficulties with insurance approval for HPV shots? Epidemiologists might be about to make it easier for people to protect themselves against HPV 16 and 18. Maryland researchers show that a single dose of nonvalent or bivalent vaccine works just as well as two.
For many people the cost of multiple doses of HPV vaccine has long been a barrier to access. With many insurers reluctant to cover the shots for over 25s, the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this December will be welcome news for the underinsured and kids in low income countries.
The team based out of the National Institute of Health’s immunoepidemiology unit in Maryland, USA, performed a huge randomized controlled trial in Costa Rica where kids are not routinely offered HPV shots.
Twenty thousand girls aged 12–16 were recruited and those eligible to take part were randomly split into three groups. One group would receive a single HPV shot, one would get a booster in addition to the first shot and a third group of girls would not be innoculated. No more than 35% of girls in any district would be allowed to participate in the trial to avoid herd immunity interfering with the results.
The girls were screened for HPV infection every six months after their 15th birthday for five years.
At the end of the trial, the girls who got a single shot of the vaccine were no more likely than those who were boosted to test positive for HPV in the five years post vaccination.
More information to follow
Kreimer AR, Porras C, Liu D, et al. Noninferiority of One HPV Vaccine Dose to Two Doses. New England Journal of Medicine. 0(0). doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2506765
[ad_2]
Source link
