Human Papillomavirus Prevalence Among Australian Men Aged 18-35 Years in 2015-2018 According to Vaccination Status and Sexual Orientation
- PMID: 39213380
- DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiae412
Human Papillomavirus Prevalence Among Australian Men Aged 18-35 Years in 2015-2018 According to Vaccination Status and Sexual Orientation
Abstract
Background: Australia introduced a national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program for girls in 2007 and boys in 2013, achieving high coverage. We assessed HPV prevalence among men who have sex with women (MSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM) aged 18-35 years and examined program effects.
Methods: Between 2015-2018, men self-collected a penile or intra-anal swab for HPV genotyping. Vaccination status was confirmed with the National Register. HPV prevalence was examined by age groups and vaccination status.
Results: Prevalence of quadrivalent vaccine-targeted HPV types (6, 11, 16, 18) was 10.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.7%-12.8%) in unvaccinated MSW and 10.7% (95% CI, 5.7%-19.3%) in vaccinated MSW (P = .96). Prevalence was 40.3% (95% CI, 36.0%-44.8%) in unvaccinated MSM and 29.9% (95% CI, 23.1%-37.8%) in vaccinated MSM (P = .02). Among those with confirmed doses, quadrivalent types were detected in 0% (95% CI, 0%-7.7%; n = 46) of men who had their first dose at 13-19 years and 37.2% (95% CI, 27.5%-47.8%; n = 94) in those who received their first dose at 20 years or older.
Conclusions: Our data demonstrate the importance of universal adolescent HPV vaccination to ensure MSM receive the same benefits as MSW.
Keywords: herd effects; human papillomavirus; infection prevalence; males; universal vaccination.
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Conflict of interest statement
Potential conflicts of interest. G. L. M. reports grant funding from the Australian Research Council. S. M. G. discloses consulting fees, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers’ bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from MSD consultancy; has received support for attending meetings and/or travel from the Global Advisory Board of MSD; and is an unpaid President of the International Papillomavirus Society. C. K. F. and J. M. own shares in CSL. J. S. H. reports funding for the present manuscript provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (grant number GNT2025960) with payments made to her institution. J. M. also reports the following patents: Inactivation of papillomavirus (Australian Patent No. 2002331456; United States Patent application number 14/566956 [continuation of patent application 10/490609]), and Treatment of infection (Australia 2009900969; International PCT AU2010/000255). L. O. acknowledges support for attending ViiV or Gilead meetings including travel and accommodation (no personal payment). D. A. M. reports receiving grants from Seqirus, nonfinancial support and honoraria from MSD, and nonfinancial support from Roche Diagnostics. All other authors report no potential conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.