In June 2006, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend the first vaccine developed to prevent cervical cancer and other diseases in females caused by certain types of genital human papillomavirus (HPV). Two HPV vaccines are currently on the market: Gardasil and Cervarix. The FDA has licensed the vaccine to be safe and effective. 11,000 tests were done on females ranging from 9 to 26 years old. In these studies, no serious side effects were noted. The only minor side effect noted was the soreness in the injection site which usually lasts a day. The FDA and Center for Disease Control however will continue to monitor the medication after it is in general use.
HPV vaccine however is gaining reputation to be one of the most painful childhood shots. The pain is short-lived however and most react with a grimace. The developers of the vaccine attribute the pain partly to the virus-like particles in the shot. Meanwhile, U.S. health officials have noticed a rise in reports of vaccine-associated fainting in girls. It is not clear however if the pain felt when given an HPV vaccine is directly related to the increase in fainting.
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