Against the papillomavirus, vaccination is strongly recommended in adolescence, between 11 and 14 years old, if we follow the recommendations of the High Authority for Health, for the girls, like the boys. Catch-up is also possible between the ages of 15 and 19. But researchers have looked into an additional vaccination method, which would consist of injecting a dose after surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells due to this virus. Explanations according to the results published in the British Medical Journal.
Less 57% risk on average
To arrive at this idea, researchers at Imperial College of London looked at the results of 22 analyzes based on clinical studies and trials. The latter were interested in the (proven) risk of relapse of women who had been affected by so-called “high-grade” lesions due to papillomavirus, comprising 2/3 of the membrane that covers the cervix. They also note that with a young vaccination (according to the recommendations), thevaccine effectiveness would begin to decline after 26 years.
According to their study, vaccinating a woman with an extra dose just after the pre-cancerous cells have been removed, would reduce the risk of relapse by 57% compared to those without vaccine renewal. And in the two most common types of papillomavirus (and the most at risk, i.e. types 16 and 18) in cancers of the cervix, the benefit rose to 74%. The researchers nevertheless noted that the study needed to expand to more women to confirm this observation.
Source :
- Role of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination on HPV infection and recurrence of HPV related disease after local surgical treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis, British Medical JournalAugust 3, 2022