One dose of HPV vaccine may be enough, Australian research finds

One dose of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has comparable effectiveness to two or three doses for preventing cervical pre-cancer, according to a new study. In a large national data linkage study published in Papillomavirus Research, researchers compared cervical screening outcomes for a quarter of a million Australian women who were eligible for vaccination under the national program. Researchers found that in women who were vaccinated at a young age, when most had not yet been exposed to HPV, that receipt of even one dose of HPV vaccine lowered the chance of having a pre-cancerous lesion detected at cervical screening. Lead author Julia Brotherton from the VCS Foundation and the University of Melbourne said this data adds to other evidence starting to emerge that one dose of HPV vaccine may eventually prove to be sufficient for protection. “If one dose vaccination proves to be enough, it will really simplify our ability to protect more people...