Schurink-Van't Klooster, T M, Kemmeren, J M, van der Maas, N A T et al. · Vaccine · 2018 · DOI
Researchers in the Netherlands investigated whether the HPV vaccine (given to prevent cervical cancer) could cause long-term fatigue in teenage girls. They compared fatigue rates before and after the vaccine was introduced and found no evidence that the vaccine increased fatigue cases. While some girls did report lasting tiredness, this happened at similar rates whether or not they had received the vaccine.
For ME/CFS patients and the broader disability community, understanding whether vaccines can trigger ME/CFS-like illness is critical for informed decision-making and public health policy. This study directly addresses vaccine safety concerns that emerged in media coverage, providing population-level evidence relevant to understanding the origins and prevalence of ME/CFS in adolescents.
This study does not prove that HPV vaccination cannot cause fatigue in any individual; it shows no statistically significant increased risk at the population level. The small number of consenting vaccinated cases (n=16) in the self-controlled analysis limits the power to detect a true association, and reliance on primary care codes may miss undiagnosed cases. The study cannot exclude the possibility of a rare or severe adverse effect affecting very few individuals.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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