Table 3. Description of adverse events of cases with skin manifestations after immunisation with an adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine, Germany, 2020 (n = 72).

Characteristics of adverse events	VZV-positive casesa		VZV-negative casesc		Total		p value
	n		n		n	%
Number of cases	27		45		72		NA
Dermatome locationd
Cervical	5		22		27	37.5	0.010
Thoracic	13		19		32	44.4	0.624
Lumbar	7b		5		12b	16.7	0.117e
Sacral	4		6		10	13.9	1.000e
Skin eruptiond
Erythema	17b		25		42b	58.3	0.537
Macules	0		9		9	12.5	0.022 e
Papules	7		15		22	30.6	0.509
Vesicles	21b		23		44b	61.1	0.025
Pustules	10b		13		23b	31.9	0.473
Haemorrhagic blisters	2		1		3	4.2	0.552e
Crusts	8		13		21	29.2	0.947
Other symptoms
Number of responses	26		44		70		NA
Severe pain with skin eruption	20b		19		39b	55.7	0.006
Severe pain without skin eruption	4		3		7	10.0	0.411e
Neurological symptom	3		3		6	8.6	0.664e
Pruritus	16		34		50	71.4	0.159
Paraesthesia	17		17		34	48.6	0.031
Number of responses	25		44		69		NA
Other	8b		12		20b	29.0	0.677
Duration (days)	Median	IQR	Median	IQR	Median	IQR	p value
Skin eruption	19.0	15.0–31.0	11.0	8.0–15.0	13.0	9.0–20.0	0.002
Severe pain with skin eruption	20.0	12.0–35.0	7.0	4.0–16.0	12.0	7.0–22.0	0.002
Severe pain without skin eruption	37.0	NA	20.0	1.0–38.0	28.5	10.5–37.5	1.000
Neurological symptom	36.0	35.0–37.0	20.0	11.0–38.0	35.0	20.0–37.0	0.773
Pruritus	26.0	12.0–35.0	9.0	4.0–14.0	12.0	7.0–24.0	0.006
Paraesthesia	35.0	15.0–47.0	8.0	5.0–13.0	12.5	7.0–36.0	0.001
Other	19.0	9.0–37.0	3.5	1.5–9.5	9.0	2.0–17.0	0.012

HSV: herpes-simplex virus; IQR: interquartile range; VZV: varicella-zoster virus.

^a All VZV-positive samples were genotyped to wild-type VZV strains.

^b One patient sample was PCR positive for VZV and HSV-1.

^c Two VZV-negative samples were PCR positive for HSV-1 and five for HSV-2.

^d Multiple answers possible.

^e Fisher’s exact test.

Entries in bold represent statistically significant findings.

Percentages not included where n < 50.