Extensive Limb Swelling after Immunization: Reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System

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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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