Impact of a Gender-Neutral HPV Vaccination Program in Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM)

Javier Díez-Domingo, Víctor Sánchez-Alonso, Rafael-J. Villanueva, Luis Acedo and José Tuells
Additional contact information
Javier Díez-Domingo: Vaccine Research Area, FISABIO-Public Health, Avda. Cataluña, 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain
Víctor Sánchez-Alonso: Instituto Universitario de Matemática Multidisciplinar, 8G building, 2nd Floor, Camino de Vera, Universitat Politècnica de Valéncia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Rafael-J. Villanueva: Instituto Universitario de Matemática Multidisciplinar, 8G building, 2nd Floor, Camino de Vera, Universitat Politècnica de Valéncia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Luis Acedo: Department Mathematics, University of Extremadura (Centro Universitario de Plasencia), 10600 Plasencia, Spain
José Tuells: Department of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine and Public Health and History of Science, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03690 Alicante, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: A major challenge in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine programs is the universal gender-neutral recommendation, as well as estimation of its long-term effect. The objective of this study is to predict the added benefit of male vaccination, especially in men who have sex with men (MSM), and to analyze the impact of the program on society. We propose a mathematical model of the HPV infection based on a network paradigm. Data from Spain allowed constructing the sexual network. HPV force of infection was taken from literature. Different scenarios using variable vaccine coverage in both males and females were studied. Strong herd immunity is shown in the heterosexual population, with an important decrease of HPV 6/11 infections both in men and in unvaccinated women with an only-women vaccination at 14 years of age. No impact of this program occurred in the infection incidence in MSM. This group would only benefit from a vaccination program that includes males. However, the impact at short term would be lower than in heterosexual men. The protection of MSM can only be achieved by direct vaccination of males. This may have important consequences for public health.

Keywords: human papillomavirus; network model; vaccination strategies; men who have sex with men; sexual behavior; sexual partners; epidemiologic transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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