Report: girls fainting after painful HPV vaccination

January 9, 2008

www.chinaview.cn 2008-01-04 18:06:54 Print

BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- It may be a new form of protection against

cervical cancer, but recent reports from the United States say a vaccination

with Gardasil is painful and girls are fainting from the shot.

During its first year of use, reports of girls fainting from

vaccinations climbed, but it's not clear whether the pain of the cervical

cancer vaccine was the reason for the reaction. Gardasil is the first

vaccine approved specifically to target the human papilloma virus, or HPV,

which causes cervical and vaginal cancer. The Food and Drug Administration

approved it for girls ages 9 to 26.

" This vaccine stings a lot, " said Patsy Stinchfield, an infectious

disease expert at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, speaking at

a recent meeting of vaccination experts in Atlanta.

The pain is short-lived, girls say; many react with little more than a

grimace. But some teens say it's uncomfortable driving with or sleeping on

the injected arm for up to a day after getting the shot.

Officials at Merck & Co., which makes the vaccine, acknowledge the sting

They attribute it partly to the virus-like particles in the shot.

Pre-marketing studies showed more reports of pain from Gardasil than from

dummy shots, and patients reported more pain when given shots with more of

the particles.

Meanwhile, U.S. Health officials have noticed a rise in reports of

vaccine-associated fainting in girls. From 2002-2004 there were about 50

reports of fainting; from 2005 until last July, there were about 230. About

180 of those cases followed a shot of Gardasil, which came on the market in

2006.

But it's not clear that Gardasil's sting is related to the fainting

increase, said Dr. Barbara Slade, an immunization safety specialist at the U

S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Teens tend to faint from needles, so a three-dose vaccine for

adolescents would be expected to prompt some added fainting, she said.

Researchers aren't sure why teens faint more than other age groups, but

nervousness may be a factor.

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