Gardasil 'continues to be safe and effective'

Women's health insurance holders have been reassured about the safety of the Gardasil vaccine against cervical cancer, after more comments came from the US government.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released a statement backing the safety of the injection, which is created by Merck. This was in response to a publication this week that stated there were reports of some serious complications, but that these were not necessarily caused by the vaccine.

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association told women's health insurance holders that 20 deaths had been recorded following the vaccine was administered, but the nature of these varied greatly and so could not be attributed to the injection.

FDA and CDC scientists analysed more than 12,000 reports of adverse reactions to the drug, finding that they included fainting, nausea and dizziness.

However, lead author Barbara Slade, a medical officer with CDC, told women's health insurance holders: "We didn't see any patterns in the causes of death, any pattern in the time between vaccination and death, or the age of the people who died - there just didn't seem to be any real pattern that would cause us to have heightened concern."

The FDA and CDC comments, released today, stated that Gardasil "continues to be safe and effective and its benefits continue to outweigh its risks".

However, concerns still remain, as the research in the Journal of the American Medical Association was based on "imperfect data" from a voluntary database.

Earlier this year it was revealed that the Gardasil vaccine has a high uptake in Scotland, with data agency ISD Scotland saying nine in ten Scottish girls have received it. The vaccine protects against 70 per cent of cervical cancers.

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By Louise Jones ADNFCR-2041-ID-19325164-ADNFCR

Adfero Ltd provides live and tailored breaking industry news for Chartis Direct. All industry news is prepared by Adfero Ltd and as such does not represent the views or opinions of Chartis Direct a trading name of UNAT Direct Insurance Management Limited.