Can the HPV vaccine cause injury and/or death?

The following article tries to shed light on the vast world of adverse reactions, with a specific look at the one against Papillomavirus, but we urge you to read all the focuses reported below to understand the other related issues, such as the problem of multiple vaccines, the hypersensitivity to one or more vaccine compounds, the SIDS problem and that of adjuvants. Most of the vaccines on the market are produced, for commercial purposes, in often multiple formulations and this makes the topic of vaccine damage much broader.

The most commonly reported side effects of HPV vaccination include: injection site pain, swelling, and redness, nausea, headache, fever, fatigue, and muscle or joint pain. Fainting - termed a syncopal episode - following HPV vaccination has been reported frequently, and as a result, vaccine recipients are advised to remain seated or lie down to prevent syncope and potential injury that can result from a fall.⁽¹⁾

Some of the adverse events reported by manufacturers during pre-licensing clinical trials include:

Gardasil - injection site pain, swelling, redness and bruising, fever, headache, nausea, dizziness, syncope, sometimes in conjunction with seizure-like activity, anaphylaxis, diarrhea, vomiting, cough, upper respiratory tract infection, nasal congestion , insomnia, malaise, oropharyngeal pain, nasopharyngitis, upper abdominal pain, gastroenteritis, appendicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, urinary tract infection, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, pyelonephritis, bronchospasm, and death.⁽²⁾

Cervarix - injection site pain, redness, bruising and swelling, syncope, fatigue, headache, gastrointestinal symptoms, rash, fever, arthralgia, myalgia, hives, urinary tract infection, back pain, dysmenorrhea, nasopharyngitis, influenza, vaginal infection , pharyngitis, chlamydial infection, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, diabetes mellitus, erythema nodosum, inflammatory bowel disease, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, thrombocytopenia, vasculitis, optic neuritis, vitiligo, and death.⁽³⁾

Gardasil 9 - injection site pain, swelling, redness, and bruising, syncope, fever, headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea, upper respiratory tract infection, upper abdominal pain, oropharyngeal pain, myalgia, asthma attack, anaphylaxis, and death .⁽⁴⁾
Post-marketing adverse events reported for Gardasil 9 include: pulmonary embolism, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, lymphadenopathy, autoimmune haemolytic anemia, pancreatitis, asthenia, chills, fatigue, malaise, bronchospasm, urticaria, anaphylaxis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, dizziness, transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, headache, motor neuron disease, paralysis, seizure, syncope (including syncope associated with other seizure-like activities and tonic-clonic movements) sometimes with fall injury, deep vein thrombosis, cellulitis, myalgia, arthralgia and death.

Over the past decade, there have been numerous studies and reports linking HPV vaccination to chronic disease in children and young adults. These include anaphylaxis,⁽⁵⁾ lupus,^(6-7) erythema multiforme,⁽⁸⁾ acute disseminated encephalomyelitis,^(9-10-11) transverse myelitis,⁽¹²⁾ amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),⁽¹³⁾ demyelination of the central nervous system,^(14-15) multiple sclerosis,(16) including pediatric multiple sclerosis,⁽¹⁷⁾ Guillain-Barre syndrome,^(18-19) pancreatitis,^(20-21) inflammatory bowel syndrome,⁽²²⁾ brachial plexus neuritis,⁽²³⁾ brachial neuritis,⁽²⁴⁾ optic neuritis,⁽²⁵⁾ neuromyelitis optica,⁽²⁶⁾ opsoclonus myoclonus,⁽²⁷⁾ vanishing white point syndrome,^(28-29) acute cerebellar ataxia,⁽³⁰⁾ autoimmune hepatitis,⁽³¹⁾ autoimmune neuromyotonia,⁽³²⁾ vasculitis,⁽³³⁾ thrombocytopenic purpura,⁽³⁴⁾ immune thrombocytopenic purpura,⁽³⁵⁾ postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS),^(36-37-38) complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS),(39) chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS),⁽⁴⁰⁾ and peripheral sympathetic nerve dysfunction.⁽⁴¹⁾ A published questionnaire⁽⁴²⁾ on people who received HPV vaccination and looked at a combination of chronic diseases, including POTS, CRPS and fibromyalgia, found that 93% of people reporting symptoms related to these conditions were still unable to work or attend school four years later the vaccination. Additionally, several studies have linked HPV vaccination to primary ovarian failure, resulting in reduced fertility^{(43-44-45-46)}. A 2018 study found lower pregnancy rates in women who had received the HPV vaccination.⁽⁴⁷⁾

Adverse events following HPV vaccination have also been linked to a relatively new medical condition called Adjuvant-Induced Autoimmune/Inflammatory Syndrome (ASIA).⁽⁴⁸⁾ In 2011, Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld, founder and director of the Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases in Israel, has released a paper associating four medical conditions - Gulf War Syndrome (GWS), macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF) syndrome (a syndrome previously related to use of aluminum adjuvants), siliconeosis (a condition related to silicone breast implants) and post-vaccination phenomena (chronic illness following vaccination) to previous exposure to adjuvants.

Dr. Shoenfeld noted that patients with these conditions had very similar clinical symptoms. Since then, published studies have linked the aluminum adjuvant in the HPV vaccine to several chronic health conditions, including postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS),⁽⁴⁹⁾ primary ovarian insufficiency (POF),⁽⁵⁰⁾ chronic epipharyngitis,⁽⁵¹⁾ pseudo-neurological syndrome,⁽⁵²⁾ and severe somatoform and dysautonomic syndromes.⁽⁵³⁾ An epidemiological study of data collected by the Federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) estimated that 3,6 per 100.000 doses of HPV vaccination resulted in symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of ASIA.⁽⁵⁴⁾

A study on the effects of HPV vaccination found that both HPV antigens and aluminum adjuvant appear to have the ability to trigger autoimmune reactions and neuroinflammation in female mice, resulting in changes in behavioral patterns.⁽⁵⁵⁾

Studies linking HPV vaccination to sudden death in previously healthy women have also been published. A study published in 2012 of two deaths following HPV vaccination concluded that the HPV-16L1 antigens present in HPV vaccines have the potential to cause fatal autoimmune vascular disease.⁽⁵⁶⁾ Also in 2012, Sin Hang Lee, a researcher and licensed pathologist, published a case study involving the sudden and unexplained death of a young woman six months after completing a three-dose series of Gardasil. Dr. Lee found HPV-16 gene DNA in blood and spleen similar to the HPV-16 gene DNA fragments contained in Gardasil. The DNA of the HPV-16 LI gene was bound to the same aluminum adjuvant present in the vaccine, which protected it from degradation. It is not yet known whether these HPV DNA fragments played a role in the girl's death.

A 2017 article published in Drug Safety looked at the safety issues associated with HPV vaccination.⁽⁵⁷⁾ Data reported in the adverse reaction reporting systems of several countries were analyzed and a relatively large number of reports of headache, dizziness, fatigue and syncope associated with prolonged hospitalization or debilitation were found. While some reports reported Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as diagnoses, the vast majority of reports reported no diagnoses. This study also found significantly more events involving a combination of dizziness and headache with syncope or fatigue following HPV vaccination than adverse reactions from other vaccines. It was also noted that these symptom combinations were first reported in the countries that first approved and recommended HPV vaccination, and that the reported symptoms persisted globally.

Because of these findings, others have questioned whether current drug and vaccine safety monitoring tools can adequately detect and respond to signs that there is a serious problem with a currently marketed product.⁽⁵⁸⁾ Additionally, a 2018 study found that only about half of the available clinical trials of HPV vaccines had been completed before the vaccines were approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).⁽⁵⁹⁾ The study also found that drugmakers only published the results of about two-thirds of HPV clinical trials, leaving the study authors wondering whether drugmakers were selectively choosing which clinical data to publish.

In December 2017, Slate Magazine ran a cover story about the pre-approval clinical trials of the Gardasil vaccine.⁽⁶⁰⁾ This investigative report determined that Merck's pre-approval safety studies "used a convoluted method that made objective assessment and reporting of potential side effects impossible during all but a few weeks of the years-long trial."⁽⁶¹⁾ The article noted that Merck's clinical investigators were allowed to use personal judgment in reporting medical problems as adverse events, essentially allowing the study investigators to decide which symptoms, if any, could be related to the vaccination. The study investigators were also allowed to list new post-vaccination health problems as medical history, not adverse events, and to limit safety follow-up to 14 days after each of the three Gardasil vaccination doses. Slate's investigation identified several women involved in pre-licensure trials of Gardasil who reported post-vaccination chronic illnesses to the study investigators, but their symptoms were never reported by Merck.

In April 2018, the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics published a report suggesting that rising cervical cancer rates in Sweden may be associated with HPV vaccination. Concerned that he might be targeted for questioning the safety or efficacy of a vaccine, the study author chose to publish under an assumed name without first contacting the journal. Initially, the magazine decided to allow publication of the article despite the deception, after determining that the author had the necessary credentials and that he faced a credible threat of harm, stating that "the issues raised are important and discussion of them is in the public interest."⁽⁶²⁾ However, two weeks later, after receiving "valuable advice from the journal's editorial board and others," the article was retracted.⁽⁶³⁾ The journal, however, said it "hoped that the possibility of possible harm from vaccinating women previously exposed to HPV would be carefully explored in future studies."⁽⁶⁴⁾ Data from Gardasil's pre-approval clinical trials had previously demonstrated an increased incidence of grade 2 and 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in women previously infected with the particular vaccine target strain.⁽⁶⁵⁾

According to US federal VAERS data, as of January 31, 2023, 618 deaths have been reported following HPV vaccination.⁽⁶⁶⁾ In Italy it is impossible to know this data.