Gardasil Shot & Pregnancy

Gardasil is a vaccine for women that was created to protect against the human papilloma virus (HPV) that is commonly contracted through genital contact that occurs during sexual intercourse.

Significance

• There are an estimated 40 types of genital HPV--Gardasil protects against the types of genital HPV that cause most cases of genital warts and cervical cancer.

Time Frame

• The Gardasil vaccine is recommended for females aged 11 to 26 who have not been vaccinated previously and who, ideally, have not become sexually active and potentially exposed to HPV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The vaccine is given in three shots within a six month time period.

Safety

• Gardasil is a pregnancy category B drug, which means animal testing has revealed no harm to the pregnant female or her fetus who has been exposed to the vaccine, but adequate studies in pregnant woman have not been conducted, according to merckpregnancyregistries.com.

Recommendation

• Women who are pregnant should not receive Gardasil since there has been limited research conducted on the fetal effects of the vaccine, according to cdc.gov. If a pregnancy occurs after the vaccine series has begun, the remaining shots should be postponed until after delivery.

Exposure

• It is important to notify your health care provider if you become pregnant while receiving the Gardasil vaccine. Health care providers are encouraged to report any patients who have become pregnant while receiving the vaccine series and the fetal outcome to the manufacturer, Merck, who maintains a registry of pregnancies exposed to Gardasil for research purposes.