Incremental impact of adding boys to current human papillomavirus vaccination programs: role of herd immunity
- PMID: 21742835
- DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jir285
Incremental impact of adding boys to current human papillomavirus vaccination programs: role of herd immunity
Abstract
Our aim was to examine the potential incremental impact of vaccinating boys against human papillomavirus (HPV) on vaccine-type infection in females and males, using an individual-based HPV transmission-dynamic model. Under base assumptions (vaccine efficacy = 99%, duration of protection = 20 years, coverage = 70%), vaccinating 12-year-old boys, in addition to girls, resulted in an incremental reduction in HPV-16/18 (HPV-6/11) incidence over 70 years of 16% (3%) in females and 23% (4%) in males. The benefit of vaccinating boys decreased with improved vaccination coverage in girls. Given the important predicted herd immunity impact of vaccinating girls under moderate to high vaccine coverage, the potential incremental gains of vaccinating boys are limited.
Comment in
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Population effectiveness, not efficacy, should decide who gets vaccinated against human papillomavirus via publicly funded programs.J Infect Dis. 2011 Aug 1;204(3):335-7. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jir287. J Infect Dis. 2011. PMID: 21742829 No abstract available.
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Population benefits of HPV vaccination for boys: a complex equation.Evid Based Med. 2012 Aug;17(4):118-9. doi: 10.1136/ebmed-2011-100433. Epub 2012 Mar 22. Evid Based Med. 2012. PMID: 22440559 No abstract available.
