The Gardasil vaccine protects against infection with HPV, the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancer as well as genital warts, reports Drugs.com. Gardasil was approved in 2006 and by May 2010, more than 29.5 million doses had been distributed in the U.S. There were more than 16,000 reports of side effects after vaccination to VAERS, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a voluntary reporting system. Of these, 8 percent were serious. According to the CDC, medical experts reviewing these events have not found a common medical pattern suggesting they were caused by the vaccine.
Blood Clots
Blood clots in the heart, lungs and legs have been reported after receiving Gardasil. According to the CDC, 90 percent of the people reporting blood clots had risk factors for them, including taking birth control pills, smoking, immobility or obesity.
For females, the incidence of blood clots reported with Gardasil is higher than those reported with other vaccines, according to the CDC, although no causal relationship has been established.
Guillain-Barre Syndrome
Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder causing muscle weakness, has been reported to VAERS by females receiving the Gardasil vaccine, reports the CDC. This disorder, which is precipitated by infection, occurs in 1 to 2 out of every 100,000 teenagers.
Medical experts from the CDC and FDA have carefully reviewed all reported cases of Guillain-Barr syndrome, concluding that the data thus far does not indicate that the Gardasil vaccine increases the risk beyond that expected for females in the general population, including those who have not been vaccinated.
Autoimmune Disorders
According to a JAMA article documenting Gardasil side effects reported to VAERS, 51 cases of autoimmune disorders occurred, of which 18 were lupus and 13 were rheumatoid arthritis. The majority of these cases appeared after a person received the Gardasil vaccine alone (not in combination with another vaccine).
Medical experts concluded that medically important autoimmune disorders comprised 1.2 percent of the serious side effects reported to VAERS.
Neurologic Conditions
A small number of women have reported neurologic conditions after receiving the Gardasil vaccine, some of which have lead to paralysis, weakness and brain swelling, according to the Mayo Clinic. Medical experts, including those at the FDA, have concluded that these effects occurred by chance and are not connected to the vaccine.
