HPV Vaccine Blinds 16-year-old Girl
A 16-year-old girl lost nearly all of her vision ten days after receiving the second course of her vaccine against HPV. The HPV vaccine is designed to prevent infection by the viruses responsible for cervical cancer and genital warts cases.
The girl who developed a headache on the left side of her head and began to lose vision in her right eye. Over the next 48 hours, the pain spread across her head and she started losing sight in her left eye also.
Physical examinations showed demyelination in her brain and along her optic nerves. When demyelination occurs, the protective myelin sheath around nerve cells degrades. This leads to interrupted nerve signaling.
1.5 years later, the teenager’s vision has not improved.
