Table 2 Major topics discussed in the media for HPV vaccines worldwide from 7 September to 23 December 2015^a

Experiences of female adolescents with suspected adverse reactions of HPV vaccines and beliefs in causal association with HPV vaccines [40]

Number of suspected adverse reaction reports received by the Danish authorities [34] and concerns in Denmark on the marketing authorisation holder’s restrictive search strategy on adverse effects of HPV vaccines [37]

Statements from parents claiming that they were not sufficiently informed about the adverse reaction profile of HPV vaccines before their decision-making on vaccination [41–43]

Questions about safety and benefits of HPV vaccines [44, 45]

Study on misleading information on HPV vaccines on the Internet [46]

Lack of treatment options for CRPS and POTS [47]

Activities of anti-HPV vaccination groups and opinion leaders [32, 48–53]

Protest by parents and activities by politicians against mandatory HPV vaccination in Rhode Island, USA [31, 54]

Call by the Irish government for investigations on suspected adverse reactions with HPV vaccines [42]

Continued suspension of HPV vaccination recommendation by the Ministry of Health in Japan [55]

USA presidential candidate Donald Trump claiming a causal association between vaccines and autism [56]

Replacement of Gardasil® by Cervarix® in the national HPV immunisation programme in Denmark [33]

Support to HPV immunisation programmes [36, 57–59]

Reassuring safety and/or benefit data supporting HPV vaccination policies [19, 30, 36, 39, 60]

Protection against genital warts by HPV vaccination [61, 62]

Protection against mouth cancer by HPV vaccination and the importance of immunisation of boys [63]

Low HPV vaccine uptake by female and male adolescents in the USA [38, 64]

Responsibility of physicians for low HPV vaccination rates [35]

Discussion about appropriate HPV vaccination age [65]

Mainly neutral, but also some negative media coverage of the PRAC recommendation on the EU referral procedure on HPV vaccines [3], in particular in Denmark and Sweden [66, 67]

Need for further independent studies on the association between HPV vaccines and CRPS/POTS [68–70]