What are the risks from HPV vaccine?
HPV vaccine does not appear to cause any serious side effects. However, a vaccine, like any medicine, could possibly cause serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of any vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small. Several mild problems may occur with HPV vaccine: • Pain at the injection site (about 8 people in 10) • Redness or swelling at the injection site (about 1 person in 4) • Mild fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit) (about 1 person in 10) • Itching at the injection site (about 1 person in 30) • Moderate fever (102 degrees Fahrenheit) (about 1 person in 65) These symptoms do not last long and go away on their own. Life-threatening allergic reactions from vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it would be within a few minutes to a few hours after the vaccination. Like all vaccines, HPV vaccine will continue to be monitored for unusual or severe problems. This information was taken directly from the HPV VIS [PDF – 47KB] (This information taken from
