A common adverse reaction of the papillomavirus vaccine that can be confused with an acute porphyric attack is nausea. This side effect may potentially be porphyrinogenic if leading to a decrease in carbohydrate intake.

The active substance in the papillomavirus vaccine is a protein and with regards to its pharmacokinetics it has no possible porphyrinogenic effects.

Proteins in the form of virus-like particles produced by recombinant technology and does not contain genetic material from the viruses (Lowy 2006).

Papillomavirus (human types 16, 18)-vaccine is a vaccine for use from the age of 9 years for the prevention of premalignant ano-genital lesions (cervical, vulvar, vaginal and anal) and cervical and anal cancers causally related to certain oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types. It is administered by intramuscular injection, according to a 2 or 3 dose schedule over a period of 6 to 13 months. The vaccine is an adjuvanted non-infectious recombinant vaccine prepared from highly purified virus-like particles (VLPs) of the major capsid L1 protein of oncogenic HPV types 16 and 18. Since the VLPs contain no viral DNA, they cannot infect cells, reproduce or cause disease.