Dive Brief:
- Despite anecdotes suggesting a link between Gardasil (quadrivalent HPV vaccine) and multiple sclerosis (MS), a large-scale study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows no correlation.
- Researchers used demographic and national health databases in Denmark and Sweden to study the potential link between Gardasil and increased risk of MS and other demyelinating diseases.
- The cohort study included almost 4 million women and definitively demonstrated no increased incidence of MS in women who were vaccinated with Gardasil.
Dive Insight:
The three-part Gardasil vaccination program to provide protection against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been in place in Denmark since 2009, starting when girls are 12. Because of this, there was a large database of women who were matched against a sample. The end result was the obvious and statistically-validated conclusion that Gardasil and MS are not linked. Refutation of anecdotal claims of a link is important, given that HPV is a leading cause of various types of cancer, including cancer of the vulva, vagina, anus, penis and throat.