Low vaccination coverage for human papillomavirus disease among young men who have sex with men, France, 2019

Publié le 16 décembre 2021
Mis à jour le 17 janvier 2022

Background: in France, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination has been recommended in 2016 for men who have sex with men (MSM) up to age 26 years. Aim :we aimed to estimate HPV vaccine coverage in 18-28 year-old MSM and identify uptake determinants. Methods :we collected data on socio-demographic characteristics, sexual behaviour, sexually transmitted diseases (STI) screening and vaccination uptake using a voluntary cross-sectional online survey conducted in 2019 targeting MSM. We calculated coverage of at least one dose of HPV vaccine and prevalence ratios (PR) of determinants with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Poisson regression. Results :of 9,469 respondents (age range: 18-28 years), 15% (95% CI: 14-16) reported being vaccinated for HPV. Coverage was significantly higher among MSM < 24 years (PR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.13-1.39), with education level below university degree (PR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.08-1.32), living in rural areas (PR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.08-1.36), attending sex parties (PR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.03-1.33), using HIV-related biomedical prevention methods (PR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.12-1.54), with STI diagnosis (PR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.08-1.38) and with hepatitis A or B vaccination (PR: 4.56; 95% CI: 3.63-5.81 vs PR: 3.35; 95% CI: 2.53-4.44). Conclusions :the HPV vaccination uptake among MSM in France was not satisfactory. It was higher among MSM benefitting from other vaccinations and biomedical preventive methods against HIV, suggesting a synergistic effect of the national preventive sexual health recommendations for MSM. Further efforts to improve HPV vaccination coverage targeting MSM are warranted.

Auteur : Ortu Giuseppina, Barret Anne-Sophie, Danis Kostas, Duchesne Lucie, Levy-Bruhl Daniel, Velter Annie
Eurosurveillance, 2021, vol. 26, n°. 50, p. 1-10