by Jared Reed
A rapid decline in genital warts has occurred in young women since the free HPV vaccine program was introduced, Australian researchers say.
In a new study, Professor Christopher Fairley and colleague at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre report that the proportion of women under 28 who were diagnosed with genital warts fell by 25% each quarter throughout 2008.
This contrasts with increases in around 2% each quarter seen before the vaccine program was introduced, they write in Sexually Transmitted Infections (online Oct 15) today.
There was also a more modest 5% reduction in new cases of genital warts among young straight men throughout 2008. The reductions in genital warts were only seen in the target age groups for HPV vaccination.
“Our findings are consistent with, and provide strong, plausible evidence for, the effectiveness of the vaccine at the population level. Clinical trials have clearly demonstrated the efficacy in vaccinated individuals but not the effectiveness at the population level,” they say.
They add that their findings also vindicate the use of the Gardasil HPV vaccine over the Cervarix one because Gardasil also targets the genital wart-causing HPV types 6 and 11 as well as HPV types 16 and 18 that are associated with the development of cervical cancer.
“The magnitude of the reduction in women less than 28 years indicates a potential for substantial reductions in wart-associated morbidity and costs and has important implications for countries deciding between the bivalent and quadrivalent vaccine,” write the researchers. | 
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