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. 2016 Mar 30;12(6):1406–1417. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2016.1168952

Table 1.

Post-licensure published quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (4vHPV) safety studies.

System or review (country) Year of Publication Number of doses evaluated Type of concern addressed Description Methods Findings
VAERS (US)a 2009 N/A General safety Summary of 12,424 VAERS reports following 4vHPV between 2006–2008 Spontaneous reporting; data mining for disproportional reporting Disproportional reporting of syncope and VTE
Vaccine Safety Datalink (US)b 2011 600,558 General safety Large database used for active surveillance and research; safety assessment of 9 pre-specified health outcomes among females vaccine recipients aged 9–26 years Cohort design with weekly sequential analyses of electronic medical data No statistically significant increase in risk for the outcomes monitored; non-significant elevated risk detected for VTE
Institute of Medicine review (US)c 2011 N/A Review of safety data Review of available 4vHPV safety data Review of published studies, case reports, and surveillance systems No evidence to support association among 12 outcomes; anaphylaxis causally associated with 4vHPV; syncope associated with all injectables
Post-marketing commitment to FDA (US)d 2012 346,972 General safety, VTE, neurologic, death General assessment of safety following routine administration of 4vHPV at two large managed care organizations Self-controlled risk interval design supplemented with medical record review 4vHPV associated with syncope on the day of vaccination and skin infections in the two weeks after vaccination; no other vaccine safety signals detected
Post-marketing commitment to FDA (US)e 2012 346,972 Autoimmune Assessment of 16 pre-specified autoimmune conditions following routine use of 4vHPV at two large managed care organizations Retrospective cohort using electronic medical data, supplemented with medical record review No confirmed safety signals for monitored conditions
VAERS (US)f 2013 N/A General safety Review of 21,194 VAERS reports following 4vHPV between 2006–2013 Spontaneous reporting; data mining for disproportional reporting No disproportional reporting observed; no new concerns
Register-based cohort study (Denmark and Sweden)g 2013 696,420 Autoimmune, Neurologic, VTE Assessment of 23 different autoimmune, 5 neurologic conditions, and VTE following 4vHPV among females aged 10–17 years Retrospective cohort using national patient registers No consistent evidence of causal association between 4vHPV and the events monitored
VAERS (US)h 2014 N/A General safety Review of 25,176 VAERS reports following 4vHPV between 2006–2014 Spontaneous reporting; data mining for disproportional reporting No disproportional reporting observed; no new concerns
Pharmacoepidemiologic General Research Extension (France)i 2014 N/A Autoimmune Assessment of 6 different autoimmune outcomes following 4vHPV among 211 cases and 875 controls aged 14–26 years Case-control study with recruitment of cases and controls through registries No increased risk for combined endpoint of six autoimmune disorders
Register-based cohort study (Denmark)j 2014 500,345 VTE Assessment of VTE following 4vHPV among women aged 10–44 years Self-controlled case series using national patient registers No increased risk for VTE
Register-based cohort study (Denmark and Sweden)k 2015 1,927,581 Autoimmune Assessment of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system among females aged 10–44 years Cohort design using data linked to national registers No association with the development of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases
Vaccine Safety Datalink (US)l 2015 1, 240, 000 VTE Assessment of VTE among adolescents and young adults aged 9–26 years Self-controlled case series; cases confirmed by medical record review No increase risk for VTE
Sentinel System (US)m 2015 1,423,399 VTE Assessment of VTE among females aged 9–26 years Self-controlled risk interval design; cases confirmed by medical record review No increased risk for VTE
VAERS (US)n 2015 N/A Neurologic Review of 21 CRPS-related VAERS reports following 4vHPV between 2006 and 2015 Spontaneous reporting; clinical review of CRPS cases Lack of evidence to suggest an association; data suggest CRPS following HPV vaccine is rare
Post-marketing commitment to FDA (US)o 2015 N/A Pregnancy Review of 4,919 reports of pregnancy following 4vHPV between 2006–2012 Voluntary reporting to pregnancy registry Data were reassuring with no elevated reporting of adverse pregnancy outcomes
VAERS (US)p 2015 N/A Pregnancy Review of 147 VAERS pregnancy reports following 4vHPV between 2006 and 2013 Spontaneous reporting; data mining for disproportional reporting No unexpected patterns fetal adverse events after 4vHPV
Vaccine Safety Datalink (US)q 2016 1,355,535 Death Evaluation of deaths among individuals aged 9–26 years Case-centered method; medical record review Rate of death was lower than the national expected rate of death in this population

Abbreviations

CRPS- Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, FDA- Food and Drug Administration, HIV- Human immunodeficiency virus, 4vHPV- Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine, VAERS- Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, VTE- Venous thromboembolism

Sources

a

Slade, B.A., et al., Post-licensure safety surveillance for quadrivalent human papillomavirus recombinant vaccine. JAMA, 2009. 302(7): p. 750–757.

b

Gee, J., et al., Monitoring the safety of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine: findings from the Vaccine Safety Datalink. Vaccine, 2011. 29(46): p. 8279–8284.

c

Institute of Medicine. Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality. 2011.

d

Klein, N.P., et al., Safety of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine administered routinely to females. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 2012. 166(12): p. 1140–8.

e

Chao, C., et al., Surveillance of autoimmune conditions following routine use of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine. J Intern Med, 2012. 271(2): p. 193–203.

f

Stokley S, et al., Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescent Girls, 2007–2012, and Postlicensure Vaccine Safety Monitoring, 2006–2013 — United States. MMWR Recomm Rep, 2013. 62(29); p. 591–595

g

Arnheim-Dahlstrom, L., et al., Autoimmune, neurological, and venous thromboembolic adverse events after immunisation of adolescent girls with quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine in Denmark and Sweden: cohort study. BMJ, 2013. 347: p. f5906.

h

Stokley S, et al., Human papillomavirus vaccination coverage among adolescent girls, 2007–2012, and post-licensure vaccine safety monitoring, 2006–2013 — United States. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2014. 63(29); p. 620–4.

i

Grimaldi-Bensouda, L., et al., Autoimmune disorders and quadrivalent human papissllomavirus vaccination of young female subjects. J Intern Med, 2014. 275(4): p. 398–408.

j

Scheller, N.M., et al., Quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine and the risk of venous thromboembolism. JAMA, 2014. 312(2): p. 187–8.

k

Scheller, N.M., et al., Quadrivalent HPV vaccination and risk of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system. JAMA, 2015. 313(1): p. 54–61.

l

Naleway, A.L., et al., Absence of venous thromboembolism risk following quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccination, Vaccine Safety Datalink, 2008–2011. Vaccine, 2016; 34(1): p. 167–71.

m

Yih, W.K., et al., Evaluation of the risk of venous thromboembolism after quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccination among US females. Vaccine, 2016; 34(1): p. 172–8.

n

Weinbaum C, et al.. HPV Vaccination and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Lack of Evidence. EBioMed, 2015. 2(9): p. 1014–1015.

o

Goss, M.A., et al., Final report on exposure during pregnancy from a pregnancy registry for quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine. Vaccine, 2015. 33(29): p. 3422–8.

p

Moro, P.L., et al., Safety of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (Gardasil) in pregnancy: adverse events among non-manufacturer reports in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, 2006–2013. Vaccine, 2015. 33(4): p. 519–22.

q

McCarthy, N.L., et al. Lack of association between vaccination and death in individuals 9–26 years of age. Pediatrics, 2016; 137(3): p. 1–8.