Women who received one dose of the HPV vaccine may gain similar protection against infection as compared with those who received more doses, a study published in JAMA Network Open found.
Researchers analyzed National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data from 2009 to 2016. They identified U.S. women, ages 18 to 26 years at the time of participating in the survey, with self-reported HPV vaccination and HPV test data.
The researchers studied 1,620 women, of whom:
• 1,004 were unvaccinated
• 106 received one dose of HPV vaccine
• 126 received two doses of HPV vaccine
• 384 received three doses of HPV vaccine
Women who received one or more doses of the vaccine were significantly less likely to contract HPV than unvaccinated women. But there was not significant difference in the prevalence of HPV among women who received one dose, two doses or three doses.
Researchers noted, however, that one of limitations of the study is that since vaccination history is self-reported and subject to limitations of memory, no conclusive evidence can be drawn about the efficacy of individual number of doses.