HPV Vaccine Safety
Update - November 2008
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been recommended for use in 9- to 26-year old females for two years. During this time, several systems have been in place to monitor vaccine safety. In a recent meeting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the public learned what each of these systems had found:
- The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) is a voluntary reporting system monitored by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If someone experiences an adverse event following receipt of a vaccine, a report can be filed through this system. Healthcare professionals, family members or others can file these reports. Each report is investigated and recorded to monitor trends. This system cannot determine causality, but can suggest a trend that might warrant further investigation. Reports for the HPV vaccine have not shown any patterns linking the vaccine to a particular adverse event.
- The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) is another CDC system that monitors vaccine safety. This system collects data from eight managed-care organizations to determine whether there are links between vaccines and adverse events. Using this system, no links were found between the HPV vaccine and blood clots, allergic reactions, strokes, seizures or Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS).
- The Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network (CISA) is an independent group of academic institutions that monitor vaccine safety. They found no link between receipt of HPV vaccine and GBS or central nervous system disorders.
- Merck, the manufacturer of the HPV vaccine, has a registry for situations in which pregnant women were inadvertently or unknowingly given the HPV vaccine. This registry showed no link between receipt of the HPV vaccine and birth defects, miscarriages or infant or fetal deaths.
Posted: November 2008
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