Background: In Germany, immunization against human papillomaviruses (HPV) is free of charge for all females aged 12 to 17 years. Since HPV infection rates rise soon after first intercourse, immunization against HPV should be completed before sexual debut. Knowledge of country-specific data on age at first intercourse and related risk factors is important to optimize prevention of HPV and other sexually transmitted infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Estimates of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence in a population prior to and after HPV vaccine introduction are essential to evaluate the short-term impact of vaccination.
Methods: Between 2010 and 2012 we conducted a population-based cross-sectional study in Germany to determine HPV prevalence, genotype distribution and risk factors for HPV-infection in women aged 20-25 years. Women were recruited by a two-step cluster sampling approach.
The World Health Organization recommends establishing that human papillomavirus vaccination is cost-effective before vaccine introduction. We searched Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library to 1 April 2012 for economic evaluations of human papillomavirus vaccination in low and middle income countries. We found 25 articles, but almost all low income countries and many middle income countries lacked country-specific studies.
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