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Despite multiple studies determining the safety of the treatment, almost half of parents in the US reject HPV vaccines from Merck and GlaxoSmithKline citing unverified safety concerns. Can Big Pharma do anything to change this negative – and potentially dangerous – outlook?

By Louise Kelly on Mar 19, 2013

About 12,000 women get cervical cancer each year in the US and 4,000 die from it, according to the American Cancer Society. Cancer-preventing vaccines from Merck (Gardisal) and GSK (Cervarix) were therefore expected to deliver blockbuster-level sales. But a growing proportion of US parents say they won't vaccinate their daughters against human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (about 20 million Americans have it) and most people with the virus can fight the infection with no lasting harm. But, in some cases, the virus can turn cancerous. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “HPV vaccines offer the best protection to girls and boys who receive all three vaccine doses and have time to develop an immune response before being sexually active with another person.”

Nevertheless, according to a survey released in the journal Pediatrics yesterday, the number of US parents against HPV vaccination had risen from 40% to 44% between 2008 and 2012.

Safety concerns

Researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City got their data from a national immunization survey that involved phone calls to almost 100,000 parents to determine the percentage of teens who were up to date on their Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), MCV4 (meningococcal) and HPV vaccines.

Even though the number of those inoculated had risen slightly, about three-quarters of eligible girls were not up to date on their HPV series in 2010. Some reasons for not wanting their children to take the jabs included fears of encouraging sexual activity or a lack of necessity as they believed their children were not sexually active. Yet the main concern was safety as about 1 in 6 parents said they weren’t convinced the vaccine was safe.

Gardasil was approved for use in 2006 but the vaccine was subject to much negative press in 2009 when a government report linked it to 32 unconfirmed deaths, along with a high rate of fainting and blood clots compared to other vaccines. However, the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine published a study last October on Gardasil’s safety, examining data on 190,000 women and girls that got at least one dose of the three-dose regime. While the study found that Gardasil could cause fainting on the day the shot was given and some skin problems weeks after the dosage, there was no conclusive evidence that linked the drug to more serious adverse effects.

Who to believe?

Information found in the media or on the Internet when searching details on vaccines can be very misleading since it's hard to tell what information is legitimate. Platitudes from the drugmakers themselves are rightly or wrongly met with some cynicism from patients due to their perceived goal- increased sales. As worried parents look for unbiased information, it would seem the most trusted source is their general practitioner.

According to the Pediatrics paper, parent surveys show that even though doctors are currently recommending HPV vaccines at an increasing rate, physicians still only recommend the vaccine about half the time. If Merck and GSK could persuade more doctors of their drug's efficicay and physicians then  speak up for the benefits and safety of HPV vaccination, parents would be better informed and HPV vaccinations might start to fulfill their 'blockbuster' potential.