| Title: | Prevalence of high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) in Slovenian women attending organized National Cervical Cancer Screening 14 years after implementation of the National HPV Vaccination Program |
|---|
| Authors: | ID Lasič Pecev, Mateja (Author)
ID Oštrbenk Valenčak, Anja (Author)
ID Smrkolj, Špela (Author)
ID Bohinc, Klara (Author)
ID Pflaum, Ana (Author)
ID Poljak, Mario (Author) |
|---|
| Files: |  PDF - Presentation file, download (1001,34 KB)
MD5: 89CC09A9AD5838FB3C2FC94AAB0C663F
 URL - Source URL, visit https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/10/1050
|
|---|
| Language: | English |
|---|
| Typology: | 1.01 - Original Scientific Article |
|---|
| Organization: |  UKC LJ - Ljubljana University Medical Centre
|
|---|
| Abstract: | Background/Objectives: To assess overall and type-specific HPV vaccine effectiveness in central and eastern Europe (CEE), the age-stratified prevalence of cervical HPV infection was determined among Slovenian women aged 20 to 64 attending a cervical cancer screening program 14 years after implementation of a national HPV vaccination program, which was then compared with 2009-2010 pre-vaccination data using the same methodological approach. Methods: Cervical samples of 4419 women were tested in 2023-2025 using the clinically validated Alinity m HR HPV Assay, and individual HPV types were determined by the Allplex HPV HR Detection assay. Results were compared with 2009-2010 pre-vaccination data generated using the same assay on an age-range matched cohort of women. Results: The overall prevalence of the 14 Alinity-targeted HPV types was 10.0% in 2023-2025 versus 13.3% in 2009-2010 (p < 0.001). HPV16 prevalence declined from 3.5% to 1.5% (p < 0.001), and HPV18 prevalence from 1.1% to 0.5% (p = 0.005). In women aged 20 to 24 with 40% uptake of quadrivalent HPV vaccine, overall HPV prevalence dropped from 25.3% to 12.8% (p < 0.001). No single case of HPV16/HPV18 infection was detected among vaccinated women. Conclusions: The first large-scale, systematic, and methodologically consistent study of HPV vaccine effectiveness in CEE showed a substantial reduction in high-risk HPV prevalence after implementation of the national program, with the greatest decline among women aged 20 to 24, who harbored the highest HPV burden in the pre-vaccination era. These locally acquired data will considerably inform public health strategies on cervical cancer elimination in CEE. |
|---|
| Keywords: | HPV, Slovenia, central ane eastern Europe, cervical cancer, prevalence, screening, vaccination |
|---|
| Publication status: | Published |
|---|
| Publication version: | Version of Record |
|---|
| Year of publishing: | 2025 |
|---|
| Number of pages: | str. 1-16 |
|---|
| Numbering: | Vol. 13, iss. 10, [article no.] 1050 |
|---|
| PID: | 20.500.12556/DiRROS-29079  |
|---|
| UDC: | 618.1-006 |
|---|
| ISSN on article: | 2076-393X |
|---|
| DOI: | 10.3390/vaccines13101050 |
|---|
| COBISS.SI-ID: | 262882307 |
|---|
| Note: | Nasl. z nasl. zaslona;
Opis vira z dne 24. 12. 2025;
|
|---|
| Publication date in DiRROS: | 20.04.2026 |
|---|
| Views: | 99 |
|---|
| Downloads: | 62 |
|---|
| Metadata: |    |
|---|
|
:
|
Copy citation |
|---|
| | | | Share: |  |
|---|
Hover the mouse pointer over a document title to show the abstract or click
on the title to get all document metadata. |
