Table 2. Noteworthy adverse events after smallpox vaccination, USA, December 2002–June 2004.
| Event type |
Events and rates among 628,414 DoD vaccinees*
|
Events and rates among 39,566 DHHS vaccinees
|
Historical rate per million vaccinees | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Events (n) | Rate per million DoD vaccinees | Events (n) | Rate per million DHHS vaccinees | |||
|
Moderate or serious
| ||||||
| Postvaccinial encephalitis |
1 |
1.6 |
|
1 |
26 |
2.6–8.7‡ |
| Acute myopericarditis |
83§ |
132 |
|
21§ |
531 |
100 |
| Eczema vaccinatum |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
2–35‡ |
| Progressive vaccinia |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
1–7‡ |
|
Mild or temporary
| ||||||
| Generalized vaccinia, mild |
40 |
64 |
|
3 |
77 |
45–212‡ |
| Erythema multiforme major |
1 |
1.6 |
|
0 |
0 |
NA |
| Inadvertent inoculation, self |
73¶ |
116 |
|
24¶ |
607 |
606‡ |
| Vaccinia transfer to contact | 47 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 8–27‡ | |
*Primarily composed of uniformed military personnel plus some DoD civilian employees; a minority of this total was healthcare workers.
‡Based on adolescent and adult smallpox vaccination from 1968 studies (both primary and revaccination).
§DoD events include four biopsy-confirmed, 73 probable and six suspected cases; DHHS events include none confirmed, five probable and 16 suspected cases.
¶DoD events include 59 inadvertent inoculations of the skin and 14 of the eye; DHHS events include 21 inadvertent inoculations of the skin and three of the eye.
DoD: Department of Defense; DHHS: Department of Health and Human Services; NA: Not available.
Data from [56,57,60–62,75,106].