Quadrivalent HPV Vaccine Safe During Pregnancy

HealthDay News — Exposure to the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine during pregnancy is not associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Nikolai M. Scheller, MD, from Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues linked information on vaccination, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and potential confounders in a cohort of women in Denmark with a pregnancy that ended between October 1, 2006, and November 30, 2013. The researchers propensity-score matched women who had vaccine exposure during the prespecified time windows with women who did not have vaccine exposure in a 1:4 ratio.

In matched analyses, the researchers found that, compared with no exposure, exposure to the quadrivalent HPV vaccine was not linked to increased risks of major birth defect (prevalence odds ratio [OR] 1.19; 95% CI 0.90 to 1.58), spontaneous abortion (hazard ratio [HR] 0.71; 95% CI 0.45 to 1.14), preterm birth (prevalence OR 1.15; 95% CI 0.93 to 1.42), low birth weight (prevalence OR 1.10; 95% CI 0.85 to 1.43), small size for gestational age (prevalence OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.72 to 1.02), or stillbirth (HR 2.43; 95% CI 0.45 to 13.21).

“Quadrivalent HPV vaccination during pregnancy was not associated with a significantly higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes than no such exposure,” the researchers write.

The study was partially funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Reference

Schelller NM, Pasternak B,  Mølgaard-Nielsen D, Svanström H, Hviid A. Quadrivalent HPV vaccination and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. N Engl J Med. 2017;376:1223-1233. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1612296