HPV vaccination not linked to multiple sclerosis

woman giving young girl a vaccination

Vaccination against HPV does not increase a woman's risk of developing multiple sclerosis or similar diseases, a study of nearly 4 million women shows.

James Gathany, CDC

Getting vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, is not associated with developing multiple sclerosis, a new study shows. The results, published January 6 in JAMA, do not support concerns from case reports that HPV vaccination may cause multiple sclerosis and similar diseases, the researchers write.

A separate study released January 6 in Pediatrics also showed that infants had no increased risk of developing arthritis, meningitis, encephalomyelitis, Kawasaki disease and other illnesses after being vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella.

Ashley Yeager is the associate news editor at Science News. She has worked at The Scientist, the Simons Foundation, Duke University and the W.M. Keck Observatory, and was the web producer for Science News from 2013 to 2015. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master’s degree in science writing from MIT.

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