PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Adolescents
who receive recommended vaccinations, including for human
papillomavirus (or HPV), have no increased risk of primary ovarian
insufficiency, also known as premature menopause, according to a
Kaiser Permanente study published today in Pediatrics.
Rates of HPV vaccination have lagged behind coverage rates for
other recommended adolescent vaccinations, such as
tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap) and meningococcal
conjugate. Based on national coverage estimates from 2016, 65
percent of 13-17 year-old females received at least one HPV
vaccination and only 49.5 percent were up to date with the series,
compared to about 88 percent of adolescents who received Tdap.
While large studies have demonstrated the safety of HPV
vaccination, parental safety concerns — including potential impact
on future fertility — are often cited as one reason for lower HPV
coverage.
"Reports of premature menopause after HPV vaccination have
received a lot of media attention, including on social media," said
Allison Naleway, PhD, lead author
and investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health
Research in Portland, Oregon.
"However, these reports were based on a small number of isolated
cases and must be interpreted with caution. To bring clarity to
this issue, we conducted a study of nearly 200,000 young women and
found no elevated risk of POI after HPV or other recommended
vaccinations."
Naleway and her team began by identifying 199,078 females age
11-34 with at least 30 days of health plan membership at Kaiser
Permanente in the Northwest from August
2006 (when HPV vaccines became available at Kaiser
Permanente) through the end of 2014. The study period was selected
to maximize the potential number of POI cases. Researchers followed
these female members until health plan disenrollment, their
35th birthday, or the end of the study period, whichever
came first.
During the study period, 119,078 females received Tdap, 84,783
received flu vaccine, 58,871 received the HPV vaccine, and 46,231
received meningococcal conjugate.
In addition to examining Kaiser Permanente's electronic health
record database, the researchers manually reviewed the presumptive
cases of POI they found. Researchers excluded cases of POI with a
known cause (for example, genetic conditions or surgical removal of
the ovaries), as well as miscoded diagnoses and cases with symptom
onset prior to August 2006. Of the
remaining 28 cases, only one was vaccinated against HPV prior to
the onset of POI symptoms.
"In a population of 58,871 young women who received the HPV
vaccine during the study period, we found only one case of an
individual who possibly had symptoms of primary ovarian sufficiency
after vaccination," said Naleway. "If POI is triggered by the HPV
vaccine or another recommended adolescent vaccine, we would have
expected to see higher incidence in the younger women who were most
likely to be vaccinated. But we found no elevated risk for these
individuals."
The study was conducted under the auspices of the Vaccine Safety
Datalink, a collaborative project involving eight integrated health
care delivery systems and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
"The safety of adolescent vaccines is important to CDC, as it is
for parents and health care providers," said co-author Julianne Gee, MPH, epidemiologist, Immunization
Safety Office, CDC. "While the safety of these vaccines is well
established, this important study offers additional
population-based, scientific evidence that HPV and other adolescent
vaccines do not negatively impact fertility in young women."
The study was supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (Task Order 200-2012-53584-0006). The findings and
conclusions in are those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
About the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health
Research
The Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research,
founded in 1964, is a nonprofit research institution dedicated to
advancing knowledge to improve health. It has research sites in
Portland, Oregon, and Honolulu. Visit kpchr.org for more
information.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of
health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health
care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945,
Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable
health care services and to improve the health of our members and
the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 12.2 million
members in eight states and the District
of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on
their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical
Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert
and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by
industry-leading technology advances and tools for health
promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and
world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is
dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education
and the support of community health. For more information, go
to: kp.org/share.
For more information, contact:
Jonathan Fine, jonathan.d.fine@kpchr.org,
503-528-3997
Heather Platisha,
heather.platisha@creation.io, 415-262-5992
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SOURCE Kaiser Permanente