Oculo-respiratory Syndrome: A New Influenza VaccineAssociated Adverse Event?

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http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v36n6/30251/brief/30251.abstract.html

Clinical Infectious Diseases    2003;36:705-713
© 2003 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
1058-4838/2003/3606-0005$15.00

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MAJOR ARTICLE

Oculo-respiratory Syndrome: A New Influenza Vaccine–Associated Adverse Event?

Danuta M. Skowronski,1 Barbara Strauss,1,4 Gaston De Serres,5 Diane MacDonald,1 Stephen A. Marion,2 Monika Naus,1 David M. Patrick,1 and Perry Kendall3

1University of British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and 2Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and 3Office of the Provincial Health Officer, Ministry of Health Planning, Victoria, British Columbia; 4Health Canada, Population and Public Health Branch, Field Epidemiology Training Program, Ottawa, Ontario; and 5Institut National de Santé Publique de Québec, Quebec, Canada

 

During the 2000–2001 influenza immunization campaign in Canada, a new adverse event, oculo-respiratory syndrome (ORS), was noted in association with administration of vaccine supplied by one manufacturer. The original case definition for ORS specified bilateral conjunctivitis, facial edema, or respiratory symptoms beginning 2–24 h after influenza vaccination and resolving within 48 h after onset. To characterize the spectrum, severity, and impact of ORS, we contacted persons who had reported any influenza vaccine–associated adverse event in British Columbia, Canada, during the 2000–2001 vaccination campaign. With use of a standardized telephone interview, we collected information from 609 (79%) of 769 eligible persons. Thirteen percent of ORS-affected persons reported onset ⩽2 h after vaccination, 27% experienced symptoms for >48 h, and 42% considered the symptoms to be severe. The surveillance case definition for ORS for 2001–2002 was revised to include onset ⩽24 h after vaccination, with no restriction on duration. ORS should be incorporated into annual influenza vaccine safety monitoring.

 


     Received 7 October 2002; accepted 25 November 2002; electronically published 5 March 2003.
     Financial support: University of British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.

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