Background/introduction Australia introduced the national quadrivalent human papillomavirus (4vHPV) vaccination programme in April 2007 in young women and included young boys in Feb 2013.

Aim(s)/objectives To examine the prevalence of 4vHPV and the nine-valent (9vHPV) targeted vaccines genotypes among predominantly unvaccinated heterosexual men in Australia in 2004–2015.

Methods 1,466 young heterosexual men tested positive for Chlamydia trachomatis were included. We calculated the prevalence of any HPV genotypes, genotypes 6/11/16/18 in the 4vHPV, and five additional genotypes 31/33/45/52/58 in the 9vHPV, detected in urine or urethral swab samples over each year stratified by country of birth.

Results The 4vHPV genotypes decreased from 20% in 2004/05 to 3% in 2014/15 (p _trend < 0.001) among Australian-born men; and a greater decline was observed in Australian-born men aged ≤21 (from 31% to 0%; p _trend< 0.001) in the last 11 years. No trends were observed in any HPV genotypes or in HPV 31/33/45/52/58. There was a decline in HPV 16/18 (p = 0.004) but not in HPV 6/11 (p = 0.172) in the post-vaccination period among men who recently arrived in Australia from countries with a bivalent vaccine programme. No change in 4vHPV in men from countries without any HPV vaccine programme.

Discussion/conclusion The marked reduction in prevalence of 4vHPV genotypes among unvaccinated Australian-born men, suggests herd protection from the female vaccination programme. The decline in HPV 16/18, but not in HPV 6/11 among overseas-born males predominantly from countries with a bivalent vaccine programme, suggests these men receive herd protection for 16/18 from their vaccinated female partners in their countries of origin.