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Science Library Abstract
Published: 2019
SYNOPSIS

More than one in ten vaccine-related adverse events in Zimbabwe are serious (11%), and measles-containing vaccines are one of the vaccines most frequently responsible for serious and systemic reactions.

TITLE

Adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) reports from the Zimbabwe expanded programme on immunisation (ZEPI): an analysis of spontaneous reports in Vigibase from 1997 to 2017

CITATION

Masuka JT, Khoza S. BMC Public Health. 2019;19:1166.

SUMMARY

The authors examined passively collected reports of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) in Zimbabwe from 1997 to 2017. Given widespread underreporting to the country’s still-developing vaccine surveillance system, just 272 Individual Case Safety Reports (ICSRs) were available, of which 11% represented “serious events.” Of these, 6% were deaths and 5% were life-threatening or involved prolonged hospitalization. Measles-containing vaccines had the highest AEFI reporting rate and were also strongly associated with serious events, as was a six-component vaccine containing antigens for oral poliovirus, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B (OPV/DTP-Hib-HepB). The majority of AEFI were systemic (versus vaccine site reactions)—and systemic events, again, were associated with measles-containing vaccines.

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