2023-11-08 20:22:37
It was a revolutionary finding for which the recently deceased Heidelberg oncologist Harald zur Hausen received the Nobel Prize in 2008: Human papilloma viruses (HPV) can cause cancer, especially tumors of the cervix, but also genital warts. Vaccines that protect against infections with certain HPV variants have been approved since 2006 – in order to ultimately reduce the number of dangerous cancers.
In the journal “Cell Host & Microbe” reports a team of researchers now about studies of the spread of HPV in 33 Finnish municipalities: In a third of the municipalities, either girls and boys, only girls or neither were offered vaccinations against the two HPV variants known to be the most dangerous, those designated with the numbers 16 and 18 become. After four and eight years, the team recorded how often these and other variants are spread among women in the communities.
Different variations
For this purpose, samples were collected from a good 11,000 or 5,600 test subjects. Herd immunity was greatest in communities where both boys and girls received the vaccine. “Eight years after vaccination, communities with gender-neutral vaccinations showed the most sustained elimination of all of the high-carcinogenic HPV types against which the vaccinations are directed or for which there is cross-protection,” the team writes in the study.
At the same time, it examined numerous other HPV types – and found that in communities with high levels of vaccination protection, the variants categorized as less dangerous tended to spread more widely, taking advantage of the ecological niche, so to speak. A new balance of HPV types is emerging that is not targeted by the vaccine, explains geneticist Ville Pimenoff, who was involved in the study. He emphasizes that this does not increase the risk of cancer.
Published/Updated: Recommendations: 19 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 17 A comment from Sascha Zoske Published/Updated: Recommendations: 24
The fact that other HPV types are becoming established in vaccinated communities is “not very surprising,” explains virologist Ulrike Wieland from the University Hospital of Cologne to the German Science Media Center about the current study – she is also head of the National Reference Center for Papilloma and Polyomaviruses. The study was designed to be complex and elaborate, and the follow-up times of four and eight years were chosen sensibly. The current procedure for screening for HPV does not initially need to be reconsidered. “Women under 35, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, should not be routinely screened for HPV because they would be positive too often without any disease significance,” says Wieland.
Significant decline in Germany
In this country, the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) recommends vaccination against HPV for girls and boys from the age of nine – if this is not done by the age of 14, it should be done by the age of 17 according to the STIKO recommendation. Vaccination of boys can also protect them directly, as the vaccine also prevents infections in them that can lead to tumors on the genitals, head or neck. A vaccine has been approved since 2015 that not only protects against the most dangerous HPV types, but also against a total of nine variants.
In Germany, significantly fewer HPV vaccinations are being administered than recommended by the World Health Organization, and at the same time the numbers have recently fallen significantly. While around 1.8 million units were dispensed through community pharmacies in 2020, according to a market research survey called IQVIA Pharmascope Vaccine, this number fell to around 1.6 million in 2021 and 1.3 million in 2022. In 2023, around one million units were sold by September.
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