So far, Merck’s HPV vaccine caused 542 adverse events. The breakdown includes soreness reported by nearly 20 percent, fainting or dizziness was reported by 11 percent, and fever or nausea was reported in 9 percent. No one who fainted had a serious injury from falling unconscious, and there were no deaths, according to the Associated Press, which got an advance look at a CDC report to be discussed by a government panel tomorrow.

Dr. John Iskander, who works in the CDC’s immunization safety office, says that, so far, there’s no reason to think Gardasil is more likely to cause fainting than other vaccines; is harmful when combined with other vaccines, or causes the paralyzing Guillian-Barre syndrome, which was seen in clinical trials.

This will come as good news to Rick Perry. The Texas governor is standing by his Feb. 2 executive order, which bypassed the state legislature, to make the vaccine mandatory for pre-teen girls. He was roundly criticized after disclosures that he held ties to Merck.

“I do not understand why we as a people would not take this opportunity to use this vaccine … to the benefit of our children,” Perry told another Associated Press reporter. “I do believe with all my heart that it was the right decision.”

His remarks were made just hours before Merck backed off its aggressive campaign to convince state lawmakers around the country to introduce bills calling for mandatory vaccination for pre-teen and teenage girls. The drugmaker markets Gardasil as a cancer vaccine, because HPV can lead to cervical cancer and the best way to prevent transmission is to vaccine youngsters before they become sexually active.

Critics say Merck was guilty of overselling: mandates don’t exist for every other vaccine that can prevent diseases caused by casual contact, and few US women contract cervical cancer. Moreover, the cost is unusually steep - more than $300.

The episode obscures one important issue: the vaccine may actually protect public health. Perhaps, we’ll learn more after tomorrow’s CDC panel. But for Merck, this was a case where bad publicity really wasn’t better than no publicity.

[tags]CDC, Cervical Cancer, Gardasil, HPV, Merck, Vaccines[/tags]