Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a major public health concern due to its strong association with cervical cancer and other malignancies. This study employs an SVIR (Susceptible-Vaccinated-Infected-Recovered) framework to examine HPV transmission dynamics and evaluate the impact of gender-specific vaccination strategies on disease spread in male and female populations. The model incorporates waning vaccine effectiveness, allowing vaccinated individuals to become infected, and demonstrates that the basic reproduction number plays a crucial role in achieving a disease-free equilibrium. Using simulations that test varying levels of vaccination coverage (complete, partial, or none), the study evaluates their impact on viral reproduction and HPV persistence. Graphical representations illustrate how vaccination policies shape health outcomes, applying evolutionary game theory within epidemic models. The model incorporates multiple behavioral and economic factors, including vaccination costs, adherence to vaccination strategies, infection risk, probability of cancer progression, and healthcare expenditures. The results suggest that gender-specific vaccination strategies significantly reduce HPV transmission and contribute to improved population-level health outcomes.
Jahan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.