ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV) VACCINATION PROGRAMME IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

Abstract

BackgroundQuadrivalent HPV vaccination has been available in Australia through the National HPV Vaccination Program since 2007. The VACCINE study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme by assessing the prevalence of vaccine targeted HPV genotypes (HPV 6, 11, 16 and 18). We aim to detect any decrease in prevalence of vaccine-targeted HPV genotypes amongst young women in vaccine eligible cohorts and to independently measure vaccine coverage in young Victorian women.MethodsYoung Victorian women aged 18–25 are recruited using the social networking site Facebook. Participants complete an online questionnaire and those sexually active are asked to provide a self-collected vaginal swab..