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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Feb 6.
Published in final edited form as: Am J Epidemiol. 2023 Feb 1;192(2):205–216. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwac170

Table 3.

Age-, Sex-, and Site-Comparable Event Rates and Risk of Adverse Events for Recipients of Recombinant Zoster Vaccine Versus Recipients of Zoster Vaccine Live in a Vaccine Safety Datalink Study Cohort (Final Primary Sequential Analysis Results)a

Adverse Event Group Observed No. of Events Observed Rate per 10,000 Doses of RZV Expected No. of Eventsb Relative Risk
Acute myocardial infarctionc 320 4.94 379.83 0.84
Strokec 287 4.43 376.19 0.76
 Nonhemorrhagic 267 4.12 321.04 0.83
 Hemorrhagic 41 0.63 77.21 0.53
Supraventricular tachycardia 151 2.33 125.45 1.20
Polymyalgia rheumatica 134 2.07 152.68 0.88
Convulsion-associated terms excluding epilepsy 112 1.73 123.56 0.91
Bell’s palsyd 86 1.33 95.72 0.90
Optic ischemic neuropathye 37 0.57 52.61 0.70
Giant cell arteritise 35 0.54 49.20 0.71
Anaphylaxise 20 0.31 15.15 1.32
GBSd,f 6 0.09 4.83 1.24

Abbreviations: GBS, Guillain-Barré syndrome; RZV, recombinant zoster vaccine; ZVL, zoster vaccine live.

a

January 2018–December 2019 for the RZV group and January 2013–December 2017 for the historical ZVL group.

b

The expected number of events following receipt of RZV was estimated from historical data on ZVL recipients, adjusting for site, age group, and sex.

c

Results for acute myocardial infarction and stroke were also adjusted for diabetes and hypertension during the year prior to RZV or ZVL vaccination.

d

In analysis 5, a preliminary safety signal was observed for Bell’s palsy (36 cases vs. 24 expected; RR = 1.51, adjusted P = 0.03), indicating a potentially elevated risk for RZV recipients versus historical ZVL recipients. In analysis 2, a preliminary safety signal was observed for GBS (3 cases vs. 0.6 expected; RR = 5.25, adjusted P = 0.02).

e

Results for optic ischemic neuropathy, giant cell arteritis, and anaphylaxis were adjusted for site and age group (60–64, 65–74, or ≥75 years) only.

f

GBS results were unadjusted.