7 Healthcast: HPV vaccine

The HPV vaccine Gardasil has had its share of controversy and now it turns out it may carry a nasty sting that has even caused a number of young women to faint.

Sara Softness, 20, said she didn't pass out, but her arm was sore.

"As the injection went in, it felt as though my arm was kind of exploding and yeah the next day it felt as though I had been working out a long time," Softness said.

The Gardasil vaccine prevents the human papillomavirus, which is sexually transmitted and can lead to cervical cancer.

"When you faint you should be able to come to pretty quickly, in opposition when you get cervical cancer, that's a more protracted and difficult illness to deal with so that seems like a small price to pay," said pediatrician Dr. Lisa Thebner.

In the past two years, U.S. health officials have noticed increased reports of vaccine-associated fainting among patients younger than 25.

From 2002-2004, there were 203 cases. From 2005 through last July, there was 463. Almost half of those, 219, involved Gardasil.

The manufacturer, New Jersey-based Merck, says the vaccine's packaging warns of pain and the possibility of fainting as side-effects, but they don't believe there's a problem.

A second HPV vaccine is currently under FDA review. Apparently that vaccine has no similar complaints of injection pain.

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