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A first-of-its-kind study suggests that allergic reactions to the popular vaccine for cervical cancer are rare and can often be overcome.
Australian researchers report in the new issue of the "British Medical Journal" that hypersensitivity to the shots is uncommon and that most girls who do have a reaction can later go on to get the shots with no serious side effects. The doctors recommend that more studies be done, however.
Last year Australia started requiring adolescent schoolgirls to get the vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV), the sexually transmitted infection that is the leading cause of cervical cancer. After more than 380,000 doses were administered, 35 girls were identified as having had some kind of reaction. The problems included rash, hives and in two patients a more severe, widespread allergic response.
The BMJ study is being published close on the heels of a recent report out of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that concluded there's no evidence that Gardasil has serious side effects.
Merck [MRK
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] sells the vaccine, Gardasil, in the United States. GlaxoSmithKline [GSK
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] is awaiting FDA approval on a similar product called Cervarix. The Australian researchers say the Merck shots may have ingredients that could be causing the small number of allergic reactions and that the GSK vaccine, which is made differently, could be an alternative for some girls.
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