Chandler, Rebecca E, Juhlin, Kristina, Fransson, Jonas et al. · Drug safety · 2017 · DOI
Researchers analyzed thousands of reports from a global database of side effects following HPV vaccination. They found that certain combinations of symptoms—headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and fainting—were reported more often after HPV vaccination than with other vaccines, particularly in young women. These symptom clusters resemble conditions like POTS, CRPS, and chronic fatigue syndrome, though most reports did not include an official diagnosis.
This study is significant for ME/CFS patients because it identifies a cluster of symptoms resembling ME/CFS that appear disproportionately in HPV vaccination reports, suggesting that post-vaccination symptom clusters warrant thorough investigation. Understanding potential vaccine-associated symptoms may help patients recognize symptom patterns and inform discussions with clinicians about medical histories and symptom onset.
This study does not establish a causal relationship between HPV vaccination and ME/CFS or related conditions. The analysis of spontaneous reports cannot prove that vaccination caused these symptoms—it only shows that certain symptom combinations are reported more frequently, which could reflect reporting bias, coincidental timing, or other factors. The absence of explicit diagnoses in most reports limits conclusions about whether these cases truly represent ME/CFS, POTS, or CRPS.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Chandler, Rebecca E, Juhlin, Kristina, Fransson, Jonas, Caster, Ola, Edwards, I Ralph, & Norén, G Niklas (2017). Current Safety Concerns with Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A Cluster Analysis of Reports in VigiBase<sup>®</sup>.. Drug safety. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-016-0456-3
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-chandler-2017-current-safety,
author = {Chandler, Rebecca E and Juhlin, Kristina and Fransson, Jonas and Caster, Ola and Edwards, I Ralph and Norén, G Niklas},
title = {Current Safety Concerns with Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A Cluster Analysis of Reports in VigiBase<sup>®</sup>.},
journal = {Drug safety},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1007/s40264-016-0456-3},
note = {PubMed: 27638661},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/chandler-2017-current-safety},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/chandler-2017-current-safety
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