From the Guidelines
The pneumococcal vaccine is considered safe, with approximately half of recipients developing mild, local side effects, such as pain at the injection site, erythema, and swelling, which usually persist for less than 48 hours 1.
Common Side Effects
- Mild, local side effects, including pain at the injection site, erythema, and swelling, occur in about half of vaccine recipients 1
- Moderate systemic reactions, such as fever and myalgias, and more severe local reactions, like local induration, are rare 1
- Severe systemic adverse effects, including anaphylactic reactions, are extremely rare, with no reported cases in a meta-analysis of nine randomized controlled trials involving 7,531 patients 1
Serious Adverse Events
- No neurologic disorders, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, have been associated with pneumococcal vaccine administration 1
- There have been no reported deaths causally associated with pneumococcal vaccination 1
- Severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, are rare, but the exact incidence is not specified in the provided studies
Vaccine Safety Monitoring
- The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) continuously monitors vaccine safety, and healthcare providers should report suspected adverse events after pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine administration 1
- The benefits of pneumococcal vaccination in preventing serious pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, meningitis, and bloodstream infections, far outweigh the minimal risks of vaccination 1
From the Research
Adverse Events Associated with Pneumococcal Vaccines
- The incidence of severe adverse events (AEs) following pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) administration is marginal 2.
- Local reactions, such as redness and swelling at the injection site, were more frequent in the PCV13 group compared to the PPSV23 group, although severity was generally mild to moderate 3.
- Systemic and adverse events were similar across PCV13 and PPSV23 groups 3.
- There were no treatment-related serious adverse events reported in a study comparing PCV13 and PPSV23 in elderly Japanese adults 3.
Safety and Tolerability of Pneumococcal Vaccines
- Pneumococcal vaccines available on the market are considered safe and highly recommended in clinical practice 2.
- PCVs are considered the preparations of choice for children due to their enhanced immunogenicity and superior ability to impact nasopharyngeal carriage 2.
- The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) has been shown to be safe and well-tolerated in Japanese elderly adults, eliciting greater functional immune responses than the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) 3.
Effectiveness of Pneumococcal Vaccines
- New high-quality observational studies indicate protective vaccine effectiveness for both PCV13 and PPSV23 against vaccine-type pneumonia 4.
- The effectiveness of PPSV23 is best in younger age groups and decreases over time 4.
- PCVs have been shown to greatly reduce the incidence of invasive pneumococcal diseases, including bacteremia, sepsis, and complicated pneumonia, but have had less of an impact on meningitis rates 5.