Oral Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2014

Assessing the Impact of the Australian HPV Vaccination Programme: a Lesson For All  (#50)

Suzanne M Garland 1 , A M Cornall 1 , S L Osborne 1 , JM L Brotherton 1 , J Pyman 1 , M Saville 1 , E Callegari 1 , J D Wark 1 , C D Wrede 1 , Y Jayasinghe 1 , J Tan 1 , D M Gertig 1 , M Pitts 1 , S N Tabrizi 1
  1. Royal Women's Hospital, PARKVILLE, VIC, Australia

Background and Aims: In Australia, the National HPV Vaccination Program began in April 2007 in an effort to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. Australia was the first country to implement a government-funded program, and hence is ideally placed to measure vaccine effectiveness in a real-world setting. 

Methods and results: A review of HPV prevalence of vaccine-targeted  genotypes (HPV6, 11, 16, 18) among vaccine-eligible young women presenting for routine cervical (Pap) cytology has already shown a significant reduction (77%)1 .  Amongst diseases caused by HPV there has been a significant reduction in genital warts of >90% in young women and also in young males,  a marker of herd immunity2 . In addition, a significant reduction in high grade cervical dysplasias has been reported3 . The  “VACCINE” (Vaccine Against Cervical Cancer Impact and Effectiveness) study is a novel study in which we are measuring i) HPV prevalence in CIN3/AIS lesions occurring in vaccine age-eligible Victorian women (born after 30 June 1981), using laser capture microdissection to dissect lesions prior to HPV genotyping to define the causal HPV genotype for each lesion4 ,  and ii) prevalence of vaccine-targeted HPV genotypes among vaccine-eligible Victorian women aged 18-25 being recruited from the general population through the social networking website Facebook5 .

Conclusion: 

In Australia, with high coverage of vaccination to the targeted population we are already seeing that the prevalence of vaccine-related HPV genotypes is remarkably low. This reduction in vaccine-targeted HPV genotypes has also translated into a reduction in the shortest incubation period diseases: genital warts and high grade cervical dysplasias. Ultimately, reductions in cervical cancer and other HPV-related anogenital neoplasias is predicted.

  1. Tabrizi SN, Brotherton JML, Kaldor JM, et al. Fall in Human Papillomavirus Prevalence Following a National Vaccination Program. JID 2012 December 1, 2012;206(11):1645-51.
  2. Ali H, Donovan B, Wand H, et al. Genital warts in young Australians five years into national human papillomavirus vaccination programme: national surveillance data. BMJ 2013;346:f2032.
  3. Gertig DM, Brotherton JM, Budd AC, et al. Impact of a population-based HPV vaccination program on cervical abnormalities: a data linkage study. BMC Medicine 2013;11(1):227.
  4. Young E, Tabrizi S, Brotherton J, et al. Measuring effectiveness of the cervical cancer vaccine in an Australian setting (the VACCINE study). BMC Cancer 2013;13(1):296
  5. Fenner Y, Garland SM, Moore EE, et al. Web-based recruiting for health research using a social networking site: an exploratory study. J Med Internet Res 2012;14(1):e20.