RETRACTED: Association of prior HPV vaccination with reduced preterm birth: A population based study
Authors: Anna S Howe
Celia Devenish
Nikki Turner
Beverley Lawton
Sara Filoche
Noelyn Anne Hung
Tania Slatter
Journal: Vaccine (2018)
Discipline: IMMUNOLOGY
Keywords: HPV; Pregnancy; Preterm birth; Vaccination.
Affiliations: Centre for Women's Health Research, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Electronic address: ., Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: ., Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand. Electronic address: ., Department of Pathology, University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand. Electronic address: ., Children's and Women's Health, University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This paper is being retracted at the request of the authors. The authors report that there was an incorrect interpretation of the odds ratio meaning that instead of HPV vaccination potentially being protective, there may be an associated increased risk of preterm delivery. The authors believe that an increased risk of preterm delivery is unlikely and not consistent with the evidence to date. Further, the authors have not been able to access the original source data as per protocol to check the data validity. The authors wish to repeat the study to reassure themselves that there were no data processing or other errors in the databases in order to reach definitive conclusions. Lastly, it is of serious concern to the Editor-in-Chief that the Conflict of Interest statement was only added to the paper by the authors after acceptance and was not made visible to the editor or reviewers prior to acceptance. The authors state that there was no input to the methodology, implementation and results of this study by any commercial entity. The pharma distribution company CSL mentioned in the conflict of interest statement only knew about the study after publication. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 Copy pasted from https: www.sciencedirect.com science article pii S0264410X17315797  This paper is being retracted at the request of the authors. The authors report that there was an incorrect interpretation of the odds ratio meaning that instead of HPV vaccination potentially being protective, there may be an associated increased risk of preterm delivery. The authors believe that an increased risk of preterm delivery is unlikely and not consistent with the evidence to date. Further, the authors have not been able to access the original source data as per protocol to check the data validity. The authors wish to repeat the study to reassure themselves that there were no data processing or other errors in the databases in order to reach definitive conclusions. Lastly, it is of serious concern to the Editor-in-Chief that the Conflict of Interest statement was only added to the paper by the authors after acceptance and was not made visible to the editor or reviewers prior to acceptance. The authors state that there was no input to the methodology, implementation and results of this study by any commercial entity. The pharma distribution company CSL mentioned in the conflict of interest statement only knew about the study after publication. See also https: retractionwatch.com 2020 09 23 a-wholly-frustrating-and-embarrassing-process-authors-retract-paper-on-hpv-vaccine-and-preterm-birth ,