Common Vaccines Are Safe for Children, Adults, and Pregnant Women

Common vaccines recommended for children, adults, and pregnant women are not associated with increased risk of serious adverse events, according to the results of a recent study.

In order to update the 2014 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Review, researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on the safety of vaccines currently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Included were 338 studies across 518 publications that included the presence or absence of key adverse events.

Overall, the strength of evidence (SoE) was high for no increased risk of autism but was high for increased risk of febrile seizures following the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine in children. For the rotavirus vaccine in children, there was no evidence of increased risk of intussusception (moderate SoE) or diabetes (high SoE). In addition, in newer vaccines such as 9-valent human papillomavirus and meningococcal B vaccines, there was no evidence of increased risk or insufficient evidence for serious key adverse events in children.

Similarly in adults, for the latest adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine and the recombinant adjuvanted zoster vaccine there was no evidence of increased risk (varied SoE) or insufficient evidence for key adverse events. Further, in pregnant women there was no evidence of increased risk of key adverse events (varied SoE) including stillbirth (moderate SoE), following vaccination of tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine.

“Across a large body of research, we found few associations of vaccines and serious key adverse events; however, rare events are challenging to study,” the researchers concluded. “Any adverse events should be weighed against the protective benefits that vaccines provide.”

—Leigh Precopio

Reference:

Gidengil C, Goetz MB, Newberry S, et al. Safety of vaccines used for routine immunization in the United States: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Vaccine. Published online May 25, 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.03.079