HPV vaccination might be reducing poor pregnancy outcomes

Preventing, rather than treating, cervical cancers has welcome spin-off benefits, researchers say

Australia’s HPV vaccination program might have prevented thousands of preterm births and small-for-gestational-age infants, a study suggests.

Together with routine cervical screening, high vaccine coverage rates appear to have led to improved pregnancy outcomes through the reduction of HPV infections, precancerous abnormalities and cervical cancer treatments.

Researchers, led by the Cancer Council NSW, compared rates of preterm births, small-for-gestational-age and low-birth-weight infants born between 2000 and 2015 to determine the impact of the national HPV immunisation program, which commenced in 2007.

There were 4.4 million live singleton births in Australia during that period, of which 6%, 10% and 5% were preterm births, small-for-gestational-age and low-birth-weight infants, respectively.