"It has recently come to the attention of the College that one of the recommended vaccines [HPV] could possibly be associated with the very rare but serious condition of premature ovarian failure (POF), also known as premature menopause," the release states.

"The College is posting this statement so that individuals considering the use of human papillomavirus vaccines could be made aware of these concerns pending further action by the regulatory agencies and manufacturers," the authors wrote.

They noted that legitimate concerns that should be addressed include that "long-term ovarian function was not assessed in either the original rat safety studies" or "in the human vaccine trials," and "most primary care physicians are probably unaware of a possible association between HPV4 and POF and may not consider reporting POF cases or prolonged amenorrhea (missing menstrual periods) to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)."

They reported that "potential mechanisms of action have been postulated based on autoimmune associations with the aluminum adjuvant used," and "previously documented ovarian toxicity in rats from another component, polysorbate 80."