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http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v37n3/30555/brief/30555.abstract.html
Clinical Infectious Diseases 2003;37:351-358
This article is in the public domain, and no copyright is claimed.
1058-4838/2003/3703-0006
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| MAJOR ARTICLE |
Extensive Limb Swelling after Immunization: Reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
Emily Jane Woo, Dale R. Burwen, Sarah N. M. Gatumu, Robert Ball, and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) Working Groupa
Vaccine Safety
Branch, Division of Epidemiology,
Office of Biostatistics and
Epidemiology, Center for Biologics
Evaluation and Research, US Food
and Drug Administration, Rockville,
Maryland
| Extensive limb swelling (ELS) has been
reported after vaccination with a limited number of
vaccine types. We sought to describe vaccine types
involved in and the clinical characteristics of ELS
cases reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event
Reporting System (VAERS). A case of ELS was
defined as any report of edema extending at
least to the elbow or knee of a vaccinated
extremity. Four hundred ninety-seven cases were
identified, with some describing swelling from
the shoulder to the hand or the hip to the
foot. Patient age ranged from 0.1 to 91 years.
The proportion of reports of ELS associated
with a given vaccine, among all VAERS reports
received for that vaccine, varied substantially
among vaccines. Most reactions began within 1 day
after vaccination and involved other signs of
inflammation. Postvaccination ELS can involve
both the proximal and distal segments of the
extremity, affects all age groups, and occurs after
vaccination with a broad range of vaccines.
|
Received 4 December 2002; accepted 25 March 2003;
electronically published 22 July 2003.
a Study group
members are listed at the end of the text.
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