2017 AMREP Public Health Research Early-Career Researcher Best Paper Award

Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)

Description

Public Health Category

Paper Title: Quadrivalent vaccine-targeted human papillomavirus genotypes in heterosexual men after the Australian female human papillomavirus vaccination programme: a retrospective observational study

Journal: Lancet Infectious Diseases

Summary: This is the first study to demonstrate falls in vaccine-preventable human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes (6/11/16/18) in largely unvaccinated heterosexual men as a result of herd protection from vaccinated women from the national HPV vaccination programme in Australia.

The study looked over 11 years; 3 years before and 8 years after the female HPV vaccination programme. For the first time, I showed the prevalence of the four vaccine-preventable HPV genotypes (6/11/16/18) dramatically reduced from 20% in 2004/05 to 3% in 2014/15 among Australian-born men, suggesting these men received herd protection from their female partners. Interestingly, we found a decline in HPV 16/18 but not in HPV 6/11 among overseas travellers who were from countries (e.g. UK) with a bivalent vaccine (16/18 only) programme, suggests these men receive benefits from herd protection for 16/18 from their vaccinated female partners in their own countries.
Degree of recognitionLocal
Granting OrganisationsAlfred Medical Research and Education Precinct (AMREP)