This study aimed to assess human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine effectiveness (VE) against both vaccine-type and nonvaccine-type high-risk HPV (hrHPV) infection, and duration of protection in United States. The study population was female participants aged 18-35 years with an HPV vaccination history and genital testing for HPV from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007-2016. Participants vaccinated before sexual debut were assessed against 13 nonvaccine-type hrHPV infection including 31/33/35/39/45/51/52/56/58/59/68/73/82. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate VE overall, by age at diagnosis, time since vaccination and lifetime sexual partners. A total of 3866 women were included in the analysis, with 23.3% (95% CI 21.3%-25.4%) having been vaccinated (≥1 dose). VE against vaccine-type HPV18/16/11/6 infection was 58% overall, which was mainly driven by those aged 18-22 years (VE = 64%) and 23-27 years (65%). Among participants aged 18-22 years vaccinated before sexual debut, the VE was 47% (23%-64%) against 13 nonvaccine-type hrHPV and 61% (95% CI 36%-77%) against 5 selected nonvaccine-type hrHPV35/39/52/58/59. Both direct effectiveness and cross-protection maintained effective for 5-10 years post vaccination. We also found the prevalence of ever diagnosed cervical cancer among vaccinated was significantly lower (0.46%, 4/874) than that among unvaccinated participants (1.27%, 38/2992). These findings highlight the potential of significant reduction of cervical cancer following the universal HPV vaccination programme.
Keywords: cross protection; human papillomavirus; nonvaccine type high-risk HPV; quadrivalent vaccine; vaccine effectiveness; vaccine type HPV.