Vaccine Effectiveness Against 12-Month Incident and Persistent Anal Human Papillomavirus Infection Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men

BACKGROUND: Real-world evidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine effectiveness (VE) against longitudinal outcomes is lacking among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM). We compared 12-month incidence and persistence of anal HPV infection between vaccinated and unvaccinated GBM. METHODS: We recruited GBM aged 16–30 years in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, Canada, from 2017 to 2019. Participants were followed over a median of 12 months (interquartile range, 12–13 months). Participants self-reported HPV vaccination and self-collected anal specimens for HPV DNA testing. We calculated prevalence ratios (PR) for 12-month cumulative incidence and persistence with ≥1 quadrivalent vaccine type (HPV 6/11/16/18) between vaccinated (≥1 dose at baseline) and unvaccinated participants using a propensity score-weighted, modified Poisson regression. RESULTS: Among 248 participants, 109 (44.0%) were vaccinated at baseline, of whom 62.6% received 3 doses. PRs for HPV 6/11/16/18 were 0.56 (95% confidence interval [CI], .24–1.31) for cumulative incidence and 0.53 (95% CI, .25–1.14) for persistence. PRs were 0.23 (95% CI, .05–1.03) and 0.08 (95% CI, .01–.59) for incidence and persistence, respectively, among participants who received their first dose at age ≤23 years and 0.15 (95% CI, .03–.68) and 0.12 (95% CI, .03–.54) among participants who were sexually active for ≤5 years before vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support national recommendations for HPV vaccination at younger ages or soon after sexual debut.