No new adverse events reported for DTaP vaccination

(HealthDay)—No new or unexpected safety issues have been identified in association with diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccines in the United States, according to a study published online June 4 in Pediatrics.

Pedro L. Moro, M.D., M.P.H., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues searched the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for U.S. reports of DTaP vaccinations from Jan. 1, 1991, through Dec. 31, 2016. Medical records were reviewed for death reports, and a random sample of non-fatal serious reports.

The researchers found that 50,157 reports were received by VAERS after DTaP vaccination; 87.7 percent reported concomitant administration of other vaccines and 11.2 percent of reports were serious. Vaccination occurred at a median age of 19 months. Injection site erythema, pyrexia, injection site swelling, erythema, and injection site warmth were the most frequently reported events (25.3, 19.8, 15.0, 11.2, and 9.6 percent, respectively). Using Empirical Bayesian data mining, elevated values for vaccination errors were identified for three of the DTaP vaccines.

"The observed disproportionate reporting for some non-serious vaccination errors calls for better education of vaccine providers on the specific indications for each of the DTaP vaccines," the authors write.

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