Not only adolescents, but also young adults, including men and women, must be vaccinated against papilloma viruses: that is the January 29 recommendation of the National Academy of Medicine (ANM), what’s for it “to expand and promote HPV vaccination in the general population up to the age of 26.” HPV – or human papillomavirus – which is sexually transmitted, causes more than 6,000 new cancers in France every year, including almost 3,000 cervical cancers with more than 1,000 deaths, 1,500 ENT cancers and 1,500 anus cancers.

Available in France are the bivalent Cervarix vaccine, which protects against viruses types 16 and 18, which are responsible for most cancers, and the nonvalent Gardasil vaccine, which is also effective against five other types. Today, vaccination is recommended for all boys and girls aged 11 to 14. According to Public Health France, as of December 31, 2022, only 47.8% of girls and 12.8% of boys born in 2007 had received one of the two doses planned for this age group. The vaccine, this time with three doses, is also recommended for 15 to 19 year olds in the catch-up phase and for men who have sex with men up to the age of 26.

The High Authority for Health said through a spokesman that it had taken note of the ANM’s statement on this matter “very important topic”. As mentioned by him Work program for 2024 As published on January 18, the HAS wants to examine this year the possibility of recommending vaccination for women and men aged 20 to 26, regardless of their sexual orientation. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal public health agency, recommend vaccination for everyone up to 26 years of age.

Substantial effectiveness was observed in the 14- to 18-year-old age group

To justify its statement, the ANM emphasizes this “The risk of HPV infection remains lifelong in both sexes” And “50% of cervical cancers are due to infections that occur after the age of 20.” Gold, “If the benefit of vaccination is optimal for uninfected people, it remains important for infected people.” The academy adds this “Several studies demonstrate the effectiveness and good tolerability of the vaccine in preneoplastic lesions between the ages of 16 and 26.” [états précancéreux] and genital warts in women and men.

The ANM quotes a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2020, which examined data from around 1.7 million Swedish women aged 10 to 30. In this population, the cumulative incidence of cervical cancer by age 30 reached 94 cases per 100,000 women when unvaccinated, but only 54 cases per 100,000 when vaccinated between ages 17 and 30. Girls vaccinated before age 17 had a cumulative incidence of 4 cases per 100,000 at age 28.

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