Papillomavirus: Authorities recommend extending vaccination up to age 26

Will it soon be possible to get vaccinated against human papillomavirus up to the age of 26, compared to 19 today? This is, in any case, the recommendation of the French National Authority for Health (HAS). The health body recommends extending catch-up vaccination to all young adults who were not vaccinated as adolescents between the ages of 11 and 14, up to the age of 26.

Until now, if the HPV vaccination had not been done between the ages of 11 and 14, the vaccine was recommended and covered for people aged 15 to 19.

"We realized that this catch-up was insufficient in terms of time window since very few young boys and girls were being vaccinated at that time," laments Anne-Claude Crémieux, president of the technical commission on vaccinations at the High Authority of Health.

"We know that there are 3.6 million people between the ages of 19 and 24 who did not have access to this vaccination when they were teenagers," she said on BFMTV.

"And these people are at a point in their lives where they are exposed to a very high risk, since the risk of infection is estimated to be highest between the ages of 20 and 24," she warns on our channel.

Protection against human papillomavirus is optimal when the vaccine is administered as early as possible. This is why health authorities have reiterated that "the priority remains to continue improving HPV vaccination coverage in the target population, namely adolescent girls and boys aged 11 to 14.

"The key recommendation remains vaccination during adolescence, but studies have clearly shown that even after the age of 19, there is still some efficacy," reassures Anne-Claude Crémieux. She points out that for patients under 15, vaccination coverage is complete with two doses spaced 5 to 13 months apart. For patients over 15, the HAS "continues to recommend three doses."

By 2024, 58.4% of 15-year-old girls and 36.9% of boys had received a first dose of vaccine, figures that fall short of the 80% vaccination coverage target by 2030. "Vaccination campaigns in middle schools could help improve this coverage," according to the Directorate General of Health. Emmanuel Macron announced in early 2023 the implementation of a free "generalized" vaccination campaign in middle schools, targeting 5th grade students, to eradicate papillomavirus.

Each year, these infections cause approximately 100,000 cases of anogenital warts, 35,000 precancerous lesions and 6,400 cases of cancer, nearly half of which are cervical cancers . In 2023, 3,159 new cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed and 1,100 deaths were recorded.