Feiring, Berit, Laake, Ida, Bakken, Inger Johanne et al. · Vaccine · 2017 · DOI
This study looked at whether the HPV vaccine (used to prevent cervical cancer) was linked to developing ME/CFS in Norwegian girls and boys between 2009 and 2014. Researchers tracked over 824,000 young people using national health records and found that girls who received the HPV vaccine were not at higher risk of developing ME/CFS compared to those who didn't receive it. The study did find that ME/CFS became slightly more common over time in both vaccinated and unvaccinated young people.
This large-scale national study directly addresses a significant concern raised by some ME/CFS patients regarding vaccine safety. By using objective health records rather than self-report, the study provides robust evidence that can inform discussions between patients and clinicians about vaccine risks and benefits. The finding that prior illness predicts both CFS/ME and lower vaccination rates highlights the importance of controlling for baseline health status in vaccine safety studies.
This study does not prove that vaccines never trigger ME/CFS in any individual case, nor does it explain the biological mechanisms underlying ME/CFS. The study was limited to a specific vaccine (HPV), specific population (Norwegian youth), and specific time period (2009-2014), so findings may not generalize to other vaccines, populations, or older individuals. The observed increase in ME/CFS incidence over time remains unexplained by vaccination status.
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
Feiring, Berit, Laake, Ida, Bakken, Inger Johanne, Greve-Isdahl, Margrethe, Wyller, Vegard Bruun, Håberg, Siri E, et al. (2017). HPV vaccination and risk of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: A nationwide register-based study from Norway.. Vaccine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.06.031
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-feiring-2017-hpv-vaccination,
author = {Feiring, Berit and Laake, Ida and Bakken, Inger Johanne and Greve-Isdahl, Margrethe and Wyller, Vegard Bruun and Håberg, Siri E and Magnus, Per and Trogstad, Lill},
title = {HPV vaccination and risk of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: A nationwide register-based study from Norway.},
journal = {Vaccine},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.06.031},
note = {PubMed: 28648542},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/feiring-2017-hpv-vaccination},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/feiring-2017-hpv-vaccination
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