From 2020 to 2022, a severe COVID-19 epidemic broke out around the world. During this period, many people were infected or even died. Although the epidemic slowed down in the second half of 2022, it has recently begun to show signs of heating up. In such an environment where the epidemic may be repeated, in addition to administering the COVID-19 vaccine, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine recently discovered to prevent cervical cancer may also have an anti-epidemic effect? Let's discuss it for you:
Published in the high-impact journal "Drugs" in 2023, a research team from Taiwanpaper, using TriNetX, a global health research network spanning more than 30 countries and regions and organized by 170 medical institutions. Since the HPV vaccine that the research team wants to discuss is mainly administered to women, the subjects included in this study are under the age of 89 , Women who have been to the doctor at least twice between 2020 and 2022, and the research subjects have not received any COVID-19 vaccine, in order to avoid the research results being affected by this factor, the final research team included 57,854 eligible and HPV vaccine The data of these subjects were compared with the matched control group for statistical analysis.
After the correction of covariate factors, the research team conducted regression analysis on the incidence of COVID-19 (COVID-19 Incidence), overall hospitalization rate (Hospitalization) and all-cause mortality (All cause mortality), and used the hazard ratio ( Hazard Ratio, HR), the research results show that:
COVID-19 incidence
Compared with the control group who did not receive the HPV vaccine, the incidence rate was significantly lower in the group who received the HPV vaccine. The risk of infection is reduced by about 18% within one year, and by about 11% within two years.
Overall hospitalization rate (Hospitalization)
The HPV-vaccinated group had a significantly lower risk of hospitalization than a non-HPV-vaccinated control group.
All cause mortality
Compared with the control group without HPV vaccine, the group who received HPV vaccine had a significantly lower mortality rate within one year, and the risk dropped by about 67~74%!
In addition, the research team also found that among the groups receiving HPV vaccine, if theAsian, age <15 years old or ≧21 years old, people with asthma, and not obese, the degree of risk reduction is even more significant!
Although the sample size of this study is very large and it spans different races, it is still an observational study, and more research is still needed in the future to prove the causal relationship. From the point of view of the mechanism of action of the vaccine, perhaps the HPV vaccine produces an anti-epidemic effect through a method similar to primary immunization training.
In summary, the author believes that the HPV vaccine itself is a good way to prevent cervical cancer. In this era of repeated epidemics, if the HPV vaccine has an anti-epidemic effect at the same time, it is recommended for everyoneEarly injection, early prevention! (The HPV vaccine is not only recommended for women, but also for men!)
〈The author is former Attending Physician in National Taiwan University Hospital, and Master of Science from National Taiwan University〉