Two Wisconsin sisters have filed a federal claim saying a cervical cancer vaccine may have prevented them from ever becoming pregnant, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Madelyne Meylor, 29, and Olivia Meylor, 19, allege the human pappillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil caused both of them to suffer premature ovarian failure and left them almost certainly unable to get pregnant.
"I've always wanted a huge family, but I don't know if that will be possible," Madelyne told the Journal.
The HPV vaccines are given as a series of three shots over a six-month period.
Madelyne, a UW-Madison junior, had her first menstrual periods at age 13, a few months before her first dose of HPV vaccine, according to a brief filed in her case.
After the first dose her periods were irregular; they became more irregular after the second dose. After the third dose, at age 15, her periods stopped. In 2010, Madelyn was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure at 16.
Olivia, a UW-Platteville sophomore, received three doses of HPV vaccine before having her first period at age 15, according to a brief in her case. She had just one more period the next month. At 16, she was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure.
The Meylor's also said they suffer from premature menopause, marked by insomnia, night sweats and headaches, the Journal reported.
Their doctor told Olivia she has no chance of getting pregnant and Madelyne has less than a 5 percent chance, they told the Journal. Both could carry a baby conceived through infertility treatments.
The girls' attorney, Mark Krueger, said the claim is the first allegation of its kind to reach a hearing through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a special court established to evaluate claims of harm from vaccines.
Merck and Co., the vaccine's maker, said evidence does not support a relationship between the condition and Gardasil, the AP reported.
"Merck has reviewed the post-licensure reports of [premature ovarian insufficiency] after administration of Gardasil and has concluded that the evidence does not support a causal relationship to the vaccine," the company said in a statement. "The cases have been reported to the U.S. FDA and other regulatory agencies. There have been no reports of [premature ovarian insufficiency] in the clinical trials with Gardasil."
According to The Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, the cervical cancer vaccine is safe and can help prevent many of the 18,000 cancers in women and 8,000 cancers in men caused by HPV, a sexually transmitted virus, each year.
Three possible genetic causes for the condition were ruled out for both women.
Joen Meylor, the sisters' mother, told the Journal she trusted her doctor and thought Gardasil was safe. But when both daughters' ovaries failed, she "started digging on the Internet and realized how harmful that vaccine is."
Madelyne and Olivia are taking birth control pills or using patches as hormone replacement therapy, the Journal reported.
Physicians recommend three doses of Gardasil against the virus for boys and girls between the ages 10 and 12 to protect against cervical cancer, throat cancer, genital warts and other conditions.
Close to 22,000 adverse reactions to the cervical cancer vaccine, which is marketed under the names Gardasil and Cervarix, were reported nationally between June 2006 and March 2013.
A 2011 study found that certain serious reactions - including seizures, strokes and the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome - were no more common among HPV vaccine recipients than those who hadn't been vaccinated.
