P3.369Acceptability of HPV Tetravalent Vaccine Among Males Attending the STD Clinic of Milan - The Importance of the Costs For Patients

BackgroundHPV infection is usually transmitted by sexual contact and represent the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection all over the world. The clinical spectrum of HPV infection varies from the asymptomatic status to benign genital lesions to the development of virus associated tumours. There is no direct antiviral drug for HPV and all available therapies are aimed to the destruction of lesions or to the enhancement of the immune response.In recent year a vaccine for prevention of infection has been developed and used for the vaccination of young adolescent girls and later of young women. The quadrivalent vaccine directed against HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18 has shown efficacy on the incidence of genital warts not only in the vaccinated population but also in the male population of comparable age. Further researches have demonstrated the efficacy of HPV quadrivalent vaccine also for men in preventing external genital warts.The situation of availability and reimbursability of HPV vaccine is different among countries. In Italy vaccination is free of charge for girls aged 12-14 years and is available at a special prize (about 50[Euro per shot) for women up to 45. Men should pay the whole some of about 200[Euro per shot.MethodsWe present the result of a questionnaire on the acceptability of Tetravalent vaccine among male population attending the STD Centre of Milan, particularly focused on the price patient could afford for the vaccineConclusionOur study demonstrated that the price of the vaccine greatly affect the acceptability. At a social price of 50[Euro per shot only a low percentage of patient would undergo the vaccination.