By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Sept. 1 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of serious allergic reactions to the cervical cancer vaccine is considerably higher than that for other vaccines given to children, but the total number of these reactions remains miniscule, Australian researchers report.

Overall, the Gardasil shot is remarkably safe, declared a team of doctors in an editorial accompanying the study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. They did acknowledge the need to keep tabs on possible side effects, however.

It's a rite of passage, the stuff of Norman Rockwell paintings. From birth through old age, we stoically endure the jabs of needles meant to ward off disease of one kind or another. Yet vaccines occupy a tenuous position in many Americans' psyches.

Two years after its introduction, the so-called "cervical cancer" vaccine, Gardasil, has found itself squarely in the crosshairs. Previously healthy girls, playing soccer and going to prom, are suddenly falling ill, struck by incomprehensibly tragic diseases. Many are paralyzed, a number of them have died.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants more information before it considers approving the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil for women ages 27 to 45, drug maker Merck & Co. said Wednesday. The company had expected FDA approval by next month.

Merck spokeswoman Kelley Dougherty wouldn't reveal the nature of the FDA's questions but said the company will respond to the agency next month, Bloomberg news reported.

By Dennis Thompson
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time, a doctor's arsenal now includes a vaccine that can actually prevent cancer.

By Steven Reinberg
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they've created a synthetic vaccine that can be delivered as a nasal spray for human papillomavirus -- the source of the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States and a cause of cervical cancer.

The experimental vaccine, tested so far just with mice, also offers protection against different strains of HPV, the researchers said.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will consider whether to expand use of a vaccine intended to prevent cervical cancer to women aged 27 to 45, the vaccine maker said Wednesday.

Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., currently is approved for use in girls and women aged 9 through 26 to block four types of human papilloma virus, which can cause cervical cancer and genital warts.

A decision is expected by mid-year.

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Are the HPV test, pap smear and gardasil vaccine covered by my insurance?