Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination and Chronic Inflammatory Rheumatic Disease. A Cross-sectional Study of Vaccinal Coverage, Barriers and Motivations.

Patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease (CIR) are at increased risk for infections. Vaccination is a powerful tool to prevent infections, even in immunocompromised patients. Low-risk types of Human papilloma virus (HPV) cause anogenital warts, while high risk types are strongly related to pre-malignant cervical abnormalities and cervical cancer. HPV vaccines have been developed to prevent these conditions. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are more prevalent in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients or other auto-immune diseases when compared to the healthy population. In France, despite a vaccination available since 2007, rate of vaccination remain low. Although little is known about HPV vaccination in SLE, few studies in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) have shown that HPV vaccines are safe, and capable to induce an immunogenic response in this group of patients. To date, available data suggest that HPV vaccines can be given safely to SLE patients. Given the increased incidence of cervical abnormalities due to HPV in SLE patients, this vaccination should be encouraged.

The aim of this study was to assess the vaccination coverage rate in chronically ill girls with SLE or idiopathic juvenile arthritis who require a close pediatric specialized follow-up vaccination and to understand barriers or motivations for it.