Safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a UK-based observational cohort analysis

Objectives To investigate the safety of live attenuated varicella zoster vaccination when administered to immunosuppressed individuals.Design Prospective observational cohort study.Setting The study used anonymised data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), comprising a representative...

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Main Authors: Nick Andrews, Sara Thomas, Daniel J Grint, Helen I McDonald, Jemma L Walker, Gayatri Amirthalingam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-01-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e034886.full
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author Nick Andrews
Sara Thomas
Daniel J Grint
Helen I McDonald
Jemma L Walker
Gayatri Amirthalingam
author_facet Nick Andrews
Sara Thomas
Daniel J Grint
Helen I McDonald
Jemma L Walker
Gayatri Amirthalingam
author_sort Nick Andrews
collection DOAJ
description Objectives To investigate the safety of live attenuated varicella zoster vaccination when administered to immunosuppressed individuals.Design Prospective observational cohort study.Setting The study used anonymised data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), comprising a representative sample of routinely collected primary care data in England between 2013 and 2017 and and linked Hospital Episode Statistics data.Participants 168 767 individuals age-eligible for varicella zoster vaccination registered at a general practice in England contributing data to CPRD.Main outcome measures Electronic health records indicating immunosuppression, zoster vaccination, diagnoses of specific varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-related disease and non-specific rash/encephalitis compatible with VZV-related disease.Results Between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2017, a period of immunosuppression was identified for 9093/168 767 (5.4%; 95% CI: 5.3%–5.5%) individuals age-eligible for zoster vaccination. The overall rate of vaccination while immunosuppressed was 1742/5251 (33.2 per 100 adjusted person years at risk; 95% CI: 31.9%–34.5%). Follow-up of the 1742 individuals who were inadvertently vaccinated while immunosuppressed identified only two cases of VZV-related disease within 8 weeks of vaccination (0.1%; 95% CI: 0.01%–0.4%), both primary care diagnoses of ‘shingles’, neither with a related hospital admission.Conclusions Despite evidence of inadvertent vaccination of immunosuppressed individuals with live zoster vaccination, there is a lack of evidence of severe consequences including hospitalisation. This should reassure primary care staff and encourage vaccination of mildly immunosuppressed individuals who do not meet current thresholds for contraindication. These findings support a review of the extent to which live zoster vaccination is contraindicated among the immunosuppressed.
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spelling doaj-art-152230b286e042439cf24e07fc32fb942025-08-20T02:31:08ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552020-01-0110110.1136/bmjopen-2019-034886Safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a UK-based observational cohort analysisNick Andrews0Sara Thomas1Daniel J Grint2Helen I McDonald3Jemma L Walker4Gayatri Amirthalingam5Immunisation and Countermeasures Division, Public Health England, London, UKCwm Taf Public Health Team, Public Health Wales, Public Health Wales, Merthyr Tydfil, UK1 Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKFaculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKFaculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKUK Health Security Agency, London, UKObjectives To investigate the safety of live attenuated varicella zoster vaccination when administered to immunosuppressed individuals.Design Prospective observational cohort study.Setting The study used anonymised data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), comprising a representative sample of routinely collected primary care data in England between 2013 and 2017 and and linked Hospital Episode Statistics data.Participants 168 767 individuals age-eligible for varicella zoster vaccination registered at a general practice in England contributing data to CPRD.Main outcome measures Electronic health records indicating immunosuppression, zoster vaccination, diagnoses of specific varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-related disease and non-specific rash/encephalitis compatible with VZV-related disease.Results Between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2017, a period of immunosuppression was identified for 9093/168 767 (5.4%; 95% CI: 5.3%–5.5%) individuals age-eligible for zoster vaccination. The overall rate of vaccination while immunosuppressed was 1742/5251 (33.2 per 100 adjusted person years at risk; 95% CI: 31.9%–34.5%). Follow-up of the 1742 individuals who were inadvertently vaccinated while immunosuppressed identified only two cases of VZV-related disease within 8 weeks of vaccination (0.1%; 95% CI: 0.01%–0.4%), both primary care diagnoses of ‘shingles’, neither with a related hospital admission.Conclusions Despite evidence of inadvertent vaccination of immunosuppressed individuals with live zoster vaccination, there is a lack of evidence of severe consequences including hospitalisation. This should reassure primary care staff and encourage vaccination of mildly immunosuppressed individuals who do not meet current thresholds for contraindication. These findings support a review of the extent to which live zoster vaccination is contraindicated among the immunosuppressed.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e034886.full
spellingShingle Nick Andrews
Sara Thomas
Daniel J Grint
Helen I McDonald
Jemma L Walker
Gayatri Amirthalingam
Safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a UK-based observational cohort analysis
BMJ Open
title Safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a UK-based observational cohort analysis
title_full Safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a UK-based observational cohort analysis
title_fullStr Safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a UK-based observational cohort analysis
title_full_unstemmed Safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a UK-based observational cohort analysis
title_short Safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a UK-based observational cohort analysis
title_sort safety of inadvertent administration of live zoster vaccine to immunosuppressed individuals in a uk based observational cohort analysis
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e034886.full
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