Resumen
The Human papillomaviruses (HPV) vaccine induces a herd immunity effect in
genital warts when a large number of the population is vaccinated. This aspect should be
taken into account when devising new vaccine strategies, like vaccination at older ages or male
vaccination. Therefore, it is important to develop mathematical models with good predictive
capacities. We devised a sexual contact network that was calibrated to simulate the Spanish
epidemiology of different HPV genotypes. Through this model, we simulated the scenario that
occurred in Australia in 2007, where 12–13 year-old girls were vaccinated with a three-dose schedule
of a vaccine containing genotypes 6 and 11, which protect against genital warts, and also a catch-up
program in women up to 26 years of age. Vaccine coverage were 73% in girls with three doses and
with coverage rates decreasing with age until 52% for 20–26 year-olds. A fast 59% reduction in
the genital warts diagnoses occurred in the model in the first years after the start of the program,