Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jun:5:96-103.
doi: 10.1016/j.pvr.2018.02.002. Epub 2018 Feb 23.

No association between HPV vaccine and reported post-vaccination symptoms in Japanese young women: Results of the Nagoya study

Sadao Suzuki  1 , Akihiro Hosono  2
Affiliations

No association between HPV vaccine and reported post-vaccination symptoms in Japanese young women: Results of the Nagoya study

Sadao Suzuki et al. Papillomavirus Res. 2018 Jun.

Abstract

Nagoya City introduced free HPV vaccination in 2010 and in April 2013 the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare included the HPV vaccine in the National Immunization Program. However, in June 2013, the Ministry suspended proactive recommendation of the vaccine after unconfirmed reports of adverse events. To investigate any potential association between the vaccine and reported symptoms, Nagoya City conducted a questionnaire-based survey. Participants were 71,177 female residents of Nagoya City born between April 2, 1994 and April 1, 2001. The anonymous postal questionnaire investigated the onset of 24 symptoms (primary outcome), associated hospital visits, frequency, and influence on school attendance. Totally, 29,846 residents responded. No significant increase in occurrence of any of the 24 reported post-HPV vaccination symptoms was found. The vaccine was associated with increased age-adjusted odds of hospital visits for "abnormal amount of menstrual bleeding" (OR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.13-1.82), "irregular menstruation" (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.12-1.49), "severe headaches" (OR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.02-1.39), and chronic, persisting "abnormal amount of menstrual bleeding" (OR 1.41, 95% CI: 1.11-1.79). No symptoms significantly influenced school attendance and no accumulation of symptoms was observed. The results suggest no causal association between the HPV vaccines and reported symptoms.

Keywords: Human papilloma virus vaccine; Population based epidemiological study; Post-vaccination symptom; Questionnaire.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Subjects Included in the Five Main Frame Cohorts of the Subgroup Analyses. Cohorts 1 and 3 include girls who were vaccinated in 2011 plus their unvaccinated controls. Cohorts 2, 3, 4, and 5 include girls who were vaccinated at 11–14 years of age plus their unvaccined controls. Subjects belonging to any cohort were considered main frame subjects.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Subjects for subgroup analysis excluding symptoms that had occurred before the earliest target year of HPV vaccination.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. GLOBACAN 2012: Estimated Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide in 2012. 〈http://globocan.iarc.fr/Pages/fact_sheets_cancer.aspx〉, (Accessed 18 January 2018).
    1. Vital Statistics Japan (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) 〈http://ganjoho.jp/reg_stat/statistics/dl/index.html#incidence/〉, in Japanese, (Accessed 18 January 2018).
    1. Motoki Y., Mizushima S., Taguri M., Takahashi K., Asano R., Kato H. Increasing trends in cervical cancer mortality among young Japanese women below the age of 50 years: an analysis using the Kanagawa population-based Cancer Registry, 1975–2012. Cancer Epidemiol. 2015;39:700–706. - PubMed
    1. Sauvaget C., Nishino Y., Konno R., Tase T., Morimoto T., Hisamichi S. Challenges in breast and cervical cancer control in Japan. Lancet Oncol. 2016;17:e305–e312. - PubMed
    1. The OECD Health Care Quality Indicators project: Cancer Care: Cervical Cancer Screening in Women Aged 20-69, 2001 to 2011. 〈https://www.oecd.org/health/health-systems/Cancer%20care%20(chart%20set..., (Accessed 18 January 2018).

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources