Education and clear information are key factors in reducing the side effects of vaccines.
This is the result of a study conducted by a group of doctors led by Danilo Medina, a gynecologist and oncologist at the Calderón Guardia Hospital, who researched 70 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 who were vaccinated against Papilloma Virus Human (HPV) between 2015 and 2016.
The research was based on patients who were vaccinated with Gardasil® (tetravalent vaccine against human papillomavirus types 6, 11, 16 and 18.)
Globally, these vaccines target groups of adolescent populations. It has been available in Costa Rica for about eight years, but only in private medicine.
Before the study, there were no scientific papers indicating the situation of the patients after the vaccine was applied and the interest grew after a situation that occurred in Colombia, with a group of women who felt weak and haf seizures and other symptoms after the application of the vaccine.
The Association of Oncological Gynecology and the Association of Adolescents received a vaccination donation for 70 women.
We made a process of selection and preparation for the children together with their parents or caretakers,”
explained Medina.
Patients were followed up after each dose of the vaccine. After the first dose, some said they had pain in the area of application, headache or nausea. After the second dose, the effects occurred in half of those who had problems at the beginning, and after the third dose, the effects were practically nonexistent.
There were no serious side effects or diseases reported after vaccination.
The conclusion is that when a preventive vaccination is to be done, in this case with HPV, an educational process must be conducted as preventive measure with the people surrounding the patient, this will reduce the side effects,”
said Medina.
The doctor emphasized that the vaccine, if applied in virgin men or women, is almost 100% effective, while in others, the percentage varies between 60% and 80%.
The young women who participated in the study will be followed up every 6 months in the gynecology clinic for five years.