HPV Vaccine Generally Well Tolerated in Males

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are safe and well tolerated in males, with few reports of adverse events, according to a study published online Nov. 3 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Giulia Bonaldo, from the University of Bologna in Italy, and colleagues reviewed all reports of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) present in the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System from Jan. 1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2018, to update knowledge on the safety profiles of HPV vaccines in the male population.

The researchers retrieved 5,493 reports of AEFI. The events most often reported and that occurred more often with HPV versus other vaccines in males were syncope, loss of consciousness, and fall (701, 425, and 272 events; reporting odds ratios, 2.85, 2.79, and 3.54, respectively).

“Our analysis shows that HPV vaccines are safe and well tolerated in the male population,” the authors write. “Between 2006 and 2017, 111,677,552 doses of HPV vaccines were distributed in the USA. Considering the number of reports retrieved in our analysis (5,493), we calculated a reporting rate of 4.92 reports per 100,000 doses.”

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