The Journal of infectious diseases
September 19, 2026 · via Europe PMC
HPV antibody concentrations among male and female adolescents after single-dose 9-valent HPV vaccination.
Lewis RM, Naleway AL, Henninger ML, +5 more, Markowitz LE.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
One to four years after receiving a single dose of the HPV vaccine, adolescent boys had similar rates of detectable antibodies but 31-50% lower antibody levels than girls across all vaccine-covered HPV types, though whether this difference actually matters for real-world protection remains unknown.
What was studied
A study comparing HPV antibody responses between 111 male and 96 female adolescents who received a single dose of the 9-valent HPV vaccine (9vHPV) at ages 9-12, tested 12-48 months later (median 20 months) for antibody detection and geometric mean antibody concentrations against all 9 vaccine-covered HPV types.
Key findings
- 80.2% of males and 89.6% of females had detectable antibodies for all 9 HPV types, with no statistically significant sex difference.
- Type-specific antibody detection rates ranged from 84.7%-99.1% in males and 91.7%-99.0% in females, with no significant sex differences.
- Geometric mean antibody concentrations were 31-50% lower in males than females for all HPV types (adjusted GMC ratios ranging from 0.50 to 0.69).
Clinical relevance
The findings raise an open question about whether lower antibody levels in males after single-dose HPV vaccination could translate into reduced real-world protection, which is relevant to ongoing policy discussions about single-dose HPV vaccination schedules (increasingly adopted globally) and whether sex-specific dosing recommendations might eventually be needed, though the clinical significance remains unclear.
Who should care
Limitations
This study measured antibody levels as a surrogate marker rather than actual clinical protection against HPV infection or disease; the authors explicitly state that because very low antibody levels are thought to still protect against HPV, the clinical significance of the observed sex difference in antibody concentration is unknown.
Boys had similar rates of detectable HPV antibodies but meaningfully lower antibody levels than girls after a single vaccine dose, raising an open question about whether this difference matters for real-world protection that requires further research.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Background
Efficacy and immunogenicity of single-dose human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination have been demonstrated among females; less is known about single-dose vaccination among males. We assessed sex differences in antibody response 12-48 months post-vaccination among adolescents who received a single 9-valent HPV vaccine (9vHPV) dose.
Methods
Participants were recruited from an integrated healthcare delivery system in Oregon and southwest Washington. Adolescents who received a single 9vHPV dose at ages 9-12 years, 12-48 months prior to study enrollment, were identified. Serum antibody testing for each 9vHPV type (HPV6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, 58) was conducted using M9ELISA. We compared antibody detection and geometric mean antibody concentrations (GMCs) among males to females.
Results
Among 111 male and 96 female participants, age at vaccination (>95% at ages 11 or 12 years) and time since vaccination (median: 20 months) were similar by sex. Among males and females, 80.2% and 89.6% had detectable antibodies for all types, with no significant sex difference. Type-specific detection ranged from 84.7% to 99.1% for males and 91.7% to 99.0% for females, with no significant sex differences. GMCs were 31-50% lower among males than females for all types (range of GMC ratios adjusted for time since vaccination: 0.50-0.69).
Conclusions
One to four years after single-dose 9vHPV vaccination, males had similar detection but lower antibody concentrations than females. Because very low levels of antibody are thought to protect against HPV, the clinical significance of these sex differences is unknown.
DOI
10.1093/infdis/jiag476
PMID
42759949
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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