Study in Slovenia shows HPV vaccine to be highly effective
Ljubljana, 27 January - Slovenian girls and women who have been vaccinated against HPV, a virus that causes cervical cancer, are far less likely to be diagnosed with precancerous conditions, even though the national vaccination rate remains low, a large new study in Slovenia has shown.
The study looked at two cohorts, women in the first vaccine-targeted birth cohort (born between 1998 and 2001) and in the last cohort before vaccination was introduced (those born between 1994 and 1997).
The researchers looked at high-grade lesions that are considered precancerous to find that the incidence thereof was 42% lower in girls and women who had been vaccinated. This is despite Slovenia having a very low HPV vaccination rate of around 50%.
The study was conducted as part of Zora, the national cervical cancer screening programme, by researchers from the Erasmus MC university medical centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It was recently published in the science journal The Lancet Regional Health - Europe.
Zora has been ongoing sine 2003 and free vaccination against HPV was introduced in 2009. Girls and boys in grade six of primary school are vaccinated systematically though on a voluntary basis, but since last year anyone under the age of 26 can get a free HPV jab.