200 Colombian girls fall ill with a mysterious illness: The puzzling symptoms are feared to have resulted from a bad reaction to a cervical cancer vaccination

More than 200 teenage girls have reportedly fallen ill with an as-of-yet unidentifiable illness in the small town of El Carmen de Bolivar, in northern Colombia.

The girls, who range between the ages of 9 and 16, have suffered symptoms of fainting, numbness in the hands and headaches.

Some are suggesting that that mystery sickness could be a bizarre case of mass hysteria (that's a

thing

that can make you ill?) but recent reports suggest parents' concerns that

the root cause could be a vaccination for cervical cancer, as all of the victims of the illness have been injected with Gardasil recently.

The outbreak reportedly began in May, but attracted noticeable attention last weekend, when around 120 young girls were rushed to hospital complaining of the odd symptoms. The sudden surge in illness inundated the small town's limited medical facilities, leaving little room for the large number medical complaints that followed.

Despite the fact that the vaccination has been looked to as the explanation of the mysterious ill health, investigations suggest that there aren't any obvious links to the globally tested jab, which prevents four strains of HPV, the virus which can cause cervical cancer.

Thankfully, it's believed that none of the girls' lives are in threat after suffering symptoms, and most have now been released from hospital.

But Colombia's Health Minister, Alejandro Gaviria, is unimpressed with the sensationalist coverage the incident has attracted, voicing his concerns that it potentially fuels unnecessary concerns for the 2.9 million other women who have had the vaccination in Colombia.

"On one side we have the weight of scientific evidence and on the other are opinions and moral prejudices," he told a radio station, before reminding listeners of the importance of the injection which aims to prevent a cancer responsible for the loss of over 3,000 Colombian women's lives each year.

So for now, it looks like it'll remain a mystery, and we just hope that until a direct link between the vaccination is realised, it doesn't dissuade women from having the important injection.