Study: Teenager nearly blinded after HPV virus vaccination

In their report, two pediatric physicians and a pathologist recommend larger study of the link between HPV virus vaccine and damage to the central nervous system.

A 16-year-old girl developed near complete visual loss after being immunized against human papilloma virus (HPV), according to a case report published in the March issue of the Journal of Child Neurology. Report authors Mirna Hajjar, MD, a neurologist, Thomas Ciesielski, MD, a pathologist, both of Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., and pediatrician Francis DiMario, Jr., MD, with Connecticut Children's Medical Center, described the injury as chiasmal neuritis (inflammed nerves) with a tumefactive (swollen) demyelinating lesion that were observed through brain biopsy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The vision loss occurred about 10 days after the girl had received the second of three courses of the Gardasil vaccine. The previously healthy girl had gone to the emergency room after experiencing progressive acute vision loss and a gradually worsening headache over a 48-hour period. She had no other symptoms and no family history of demyelinating disease, collagen-vascular disease, or rheumatological disorders. The authors wrote:

“It is tempting to speculate whether there may be a specific immune mechanism initiated with human papilloma virus not yet identified, which resulted in not only acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis but also in an unusual clinical course that resulted in persistent visual loss.”

Eighteen months after her initial symptoms appeared the girl continued to experience “persistent profound visual impairment” but had no additional neurological problems, according to the authors. The authors noted that only four other cases showing an association between central nervous system demyelination and the HPV vaccine have been published and that larger epidemiologic studies are needed to confirm HPV virus immunization plays a role in demyelinating disease.