Response to the 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine was noninferior in boys and girls aged 9-15 years, compared with women aged 16-26 years, according to Dr. Pierre Van Damme of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and his associates.
In all three groups, a seroconversion rate of greater than 99% was achieved for all HPV vaccine types in this study of 3,074 subjects. After 2.5 years, anti-HPV responses remained strong at over 90% for the boys and girls. The delivery of the 9-valent HPV vaccine was tolerated well in all groups, with boys and girls reporting injection-site adverse event rates of 72.8% and 81.9%, respectively, compared with 85.4% of young women.
The study findings support “bridging the efficacy findings in young women 16 to 26 years of age to girls and boys 9 to 15 years of age. The 9vHPV vaccine appears to be generally well tolerated in all groups,” the investigators wrote.
Find the full study in Pediatrics (doi: 10.1542/peds.2014-3745).
