THE cervical cancer vaccine is under fresh scrutiny after three women were struck down with pancreatitis soon after receiving the injection.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is investigating whether the shot of Gardasil caused the sudden inflammation of the pancreas in the three patients, or whether it was just a coincidence.

A 26-year-old woman went to Bankstown Hospital four days after receiving her first dose of the quadrivalent vaccine, which protects young women from the strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause 70percent of cervical cancers.

Writing in the Medical Journal Of Australia , surgery fellow Amitabha Das said the woman developed a fever, rash, severe pain and vomiting and was diagnosed with pancreatitis. After 10 days the symptoms settled and she was discharged from hospital and remains well.

Dr Das and his colleagues said an extensive investigation could find no other cause for the pancreatitis and while a coincidental illness could not be ruled out, "neither can HPV vaccination be excluded as a potential cause".

"We suggest that pancreatitis be considered in cases of abdominal pain following HPV vaccination," they wrote.

A spokeswoman for the TGA said in the second case, the patient's level of pancreatic enzymes normalised within 24 hours. A third woman is still under the care of a gastroenterologist.

Acute pancreatitis is a sudden, debilitating attack of severe upper abdominal pain. Pancreatic enzymes irritate and burn the pancreas, and leak out into the abdominal cavity. Complications include respiratory, kidney or heart failure, all of which can be fatal.

Rachel David, spokeswoman for Gardasil manufacturer CSL, said the firm remained confident the drug was safe and effective, but the reports of pancreatitis would be immediately investigated.

"No causative relationship with the vaccine has been established but obviously we do take reports of associations like this very seriously," Dr David said.