Surveillance and compensation claims for adverse events following immunization from 2011 to 2016 in the Republic of Korea.
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ABSTRACT: In recent years, research on reported adverse events following immunization (AEFI) and claims filed for compensation has been lacking. We reviewed reported AEFIs and compensation claims in Korea from 2011 to 2016.We listed all of the AEFI registered in the Integrated Management System of Disease and Public Health and reviewed the list of claims filed and serious AEFIs reported from 2011 to 2016.An average of 278 AEFI cases was reported annually from 2011 to 2016. Of these, 31 deaths were reported. However, there was no association found between these deaths and vaccinations when evaluating vaccine lot, reviewing autopsies, and considering underlying diseases. AEFI reporting rate was as high as 20.8 cases for bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, 7.3 cases for 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23), and 5.4 cases for human papillomavirus vaccine per 100,000 vaccination doses in 2016. Of the 469 total cases that claimed vaccine injury compensation from 2011 to 2016, the BCG vaccine was most commonly involved, with 235 cases (50%), followed by influenza vaccine and PPV23, with 90 and 55 cases, respectively. Of these cases, 96% of BCG-related AEFI were compensated, while only 31% and 49% of AEFI following influenza and PPV23 vaccination, respectively, were compensated. Common characteristics of uncompensated cases included the elderly subjects, receiving influenza vaccine, having underlying disease, or a very short time interval between vaccination and symptoms.We have maintained vaccine safety management system through both rapid response to serious AEFI and vaccine injury compensation in order to sustain public trust in the National Immunization Program.
Project description:PurposeVaccine hesitancy is among the top ten threats to global health, and access to precise data on adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) is imperative to alleviate public concerns surrounding vaccines. This study aimed to present the overall trends of AEFIs reported in South Korea.Materials and methodsWe evaluated the trends of AEFIs using the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management-Korea Adverse Event Reporting System database between January 2005 and December 2017. AEFIs were classified into five categories to evaluate associations between vaccines and AEFIs through a case-non-case study: neurologic reactions, general systemic reactions, local reactions, allergic reactions, and others.ResultsAmong 54378 reported adverse events (AEs) associated with all vaccines approved in South Korea, more than half (56.7%) occurred following influenza vaccination, followed by the pneumococcal (11.6%) and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccines (5.0%). After immunization with most vaccines, general systemic reactions were most common, followed by local and neurologic reactions. Adjusted reporting odds ratios were calculated for all neurologic, general, local, and allergic reactions: of all vaccines, rotavirus [neurologic 2.43, 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.25-2.62], BCG (general; 2.20, 95% CI, 1.91-2.53), BCG (local; 3.15, 95% CI, 2.69-3.68), and Japanese encephalitis (allergic 2.38, 95% CI, 1.98-2.87) vaccines showed the highest values.ConclusionThe majority of reported AEFIs were non-serious and mostly general systemic reactions. Sufficient knowledge on the AEFIs would secure public confidence on the safety of vaccines, thereby reducing public health burden from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Project description:BackgroundWith over 80% of children worldwide vaccinated, concerns about vaccine safety continues to be a public health issue. Ghana's Adverse Events Following Immunization surveillance started in 1978 with the objective to promptly detect and manage AEFI cases either real or perceived. Periodic evaluation of the surveillance system is critical for optimal performance; hence we evaluated the system to assess its attributes, usefulness and system's performance in meeting its objectives.MethodsA case of AEFI was defined as any untoward medical event occurring within 28 days after vaccination and may not necessarily have causal relationship with the vaccine use. We reviewed surveillance data and procedures for the period 2014 to 2018 and interviewed key stakeholders. Adapting the CDC's Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems, we assessed the system's attributes and usefulness. We performed summary descriptive statistics on quantitative data and directed content analysis on information gathered from interviews.ResultsIn all, 2,282 AEFI cases including 476 (21%) serious cases (life threatening events) were reported for the period. The highest case detection rates of 61.45 AEFIs per 100,000 surviving infants was recorded in 2018. Reporting forms were modified to accommodate new indicators without any disruption in the function of the system. At the national level, completeness of 100 randomly sampled reporting forms (100%) and was higher than the region (27%) but timeliness (50%) was lower than the region (83%). All (16/16) Community Health Nurses interviewed indicated "fear of being victimized" as the reason for underreporting, nonetheless, the system was useful as it made them cautious when vaccinating children to prevent reactions. Data on AEFI surveillance was also useful in guiding training needs and provision of vaccination logistics.ConclusionThe AEFI surveillance system is useful at all levels but partially meeting its objective due to underreporting. We recommend training and supportive supervision to improve timeliness of reporting, data completeness and acceptability.
Project description:Understanding age-specific injury patterns allows the continued improvement of prevention strategies. This is a retrospective study analyzing the Korea Emergency Department-Based Injury In-depth Surveillance data, including those aged ≤19 years old between January 2011 and December 2017. In this study, we focused on changes in the modes of injury and severity, and prevention potential by dividing the patients into four age groups: group 1 (0-4 years), group 2 (5-9 years), group 3 (10-14 years), and group 4 (15-19 years). The most common mode of injury in younger age groups 1 and 2 was a fall or slip. Most injuries in older age groups 3 and 4 were unintentional and intentional collisions combined. Traumatic brain injuries (2.1%), intensive care unit admissions (1.8%), and overall death (0.4%) were the highest in group 4. The proportions of severe and critical injury (EMR-ISS ≥ 25) were 7.5% in group 4, 3.2% in group 3, 2.5% in group 1, and 1% in group 2. This study presents a comprehensive trend of injuries in the pediatric population in South Korea. Our results suggest the importance of designing specific injury-prevention strategies for targeted groups, circumstances, and situations.
Project description:The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence and characteristics of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) with post-licensure vaccines used in Hebei province from 2018 to 2020 and to evaluate the safety of vaccines. All information of AEFI was gained from national adverse event following immunization surveillance system (NAEFISS) in Hebei Province from 2018 to 2020. Descriptive epidemiology method was used to analyze the data about AEFI in Hebei province. Reporting rates of AEFI were calculated by sex, age, city, categories of AEFI, severity of AEFI, reaction categories, etc. A total of 35,999 AEFI were reported through NAEFISS, and the average annual rate was 47.64/100,000 doses. The reporting rates of common adverse reactions and rare adverse reactions were 46.37/100,000 doses and 1.05/100,000 doses. The male-to-female ratio was 1.26:1. Most of the AEFI were concentrated in the ≤1 year age group and were reported in the second quarter and third quarter. The majority of AEFI were reported to be recovered or improved, and about 62% of the AEFI occurred within 24 hours after vaccination. Vaccines associated with the highest reporting rate of AEFI were diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis combined vaccine (DTaP, 170.45/100,000 doses). The reporting rate of allergic rash was found to be the highest in the adverse reactions (0.29/100,000 doses). The majority of AEFI cases were common adverse reactions, while serious rare adverse reactions caused by vaccines were extremely uncommon, and all vaccines used in Hebei Province were safe.
Project description:Surveillance remains an important tool for timely outbreak detection and response. Many countries, including Korea, have established national infectious disease surveillance systems with clinical notification. We aimed to evaluate the National Health Insurance Claims-based Surveillance (NHICS) compared to conventional passive report-based National Infectious Diseases Surveillance (NIDS). Reported to claimed cases ratios (R/C ratio) were evaluated from monthly notifiable disease cases captured by NIDS and NHICS. The relationships between 26 infectious diseases and each surveillance system were analysed using Pearson's correlation analysis and linear regression. There was an overall increase in R/C ratio from 2010-2017 (0.37 to 0.78). In 22 infectious diseases, there was a correlation between NIDS and NHICS. Moreover, claim-based surveillance showed less fluctuating disease incidence rates than report-based surveillance for specific infectious diseases, such as varicella, mumps, and scarlet fever. However, for infectious diseases with episodic outbreaks or low incidence, it was difficult to assess NHICS usefulness. Claim-based surveillance is less affected by limitations of conventional report-based surveillance systems, such as reporting rate. Given delays in claim systems, a claim-based surveillance is expected to be complementary to conventional systems for the detection of various infectious diseases with the advancement of bio-information technology.
Project description:ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the frequency of worker injuries by affected body part(s) and the associated costs. Methods : We performed a secondary analysis of national workers' compensation claims data from the Korean workers' compensation insurance. The main outcome measures were frequency and cost of claims by injury type. Results : Multiple injuries were ranked as the highest injury type in the number of annual claims and percentage of the total cost/total medical cost. Hand/wrist/finger was the most common single-injury type. The frequency of injury type and the cost amount payable as a percentage of the total cost were the highest for multiple injuries, hand/wrist/finger injuries, and knee/lower leg injuries. Conclusions : Regarding frequency and costs, hand/wrist/finger injuries were highest in cost, by single-injury type. Therefore, these injuries should be recognized as intervention targets.
Project description:Post licensure surveillance of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) is a fundamental activity to improve safety and maintain public confidence in vaccines. Since 2011, the Liguria Region has been involved in the inter-regional project of post-marketing surveillance of AEFI, coordinated by the Italian Medicine Agency and the Veneto region. The main objectives of the project are: (1) to coordinate the surveillance activities in the 8 Italian Regions included in the project; (2) to encourage the signal of AEFI by healthcare workers and patients; (3) to organize education activities addressed to health care workers, and, finally; (4) to establish vaccination counseling services in each Region. In particular, the Ligurian multidisciplinary team, composed by physicians expert in the field of vaccination and pharmacists, is involved in the causality assessment between vaccines and all adverse events signaled within the Liguria Region and in the analysis of all adverse events signaled in Italy as possibly related to influenza vaccines. During 2013, the team has organized 4 courses, addressed to healthcare personnel of vaccination outpatient clinics, focused on European and Italian legislation on pharmaco-vigilance and vaccine-vigilance and aimed at promoting signal of AEFI. Since October 2013, the Liguria Region has been participating to the inter-regional project of active surveillance of adverse events aimed at promoting the signal of AEFI by parents of vaccinated infants. After two years of implementation of the project both the number of reported AEFI and the reporting rate per 100 000 administered doses of vaccine increased. The activities need to be consolidated in the next years in order to guarantee high standard of vaccine safety, maintain the confidence in current immunization programs and reach optimal vaccination coverage rate.
Project description:Underreporting is the main limitation of spontaneous reporting systems. This cohort-event monitoring study aims to examine the potential of short message service (SMS)-based surveillance compared to traditional surveillance systems. Using VigiVax software, parents of vaccinated children aged two years or younger, in the period March 2021-May 2022, received a single SMS inquiry about adverse events following immunization (AEFI). Responses were collected, validated by health operators and integrated with the information on electronic immunization registries. AEFI reports were automatically submitted to the Italian Pharmacovigilance system. Among 254,160 SMS messages sent, corresponding to 451,656 administered doses (AD), 71,643 responses were collected (28.2% response rate), and 21,231 of them (8.3%) reported AEFI. After a seriousness assessment based on clinical criteria, 50 reports (0.24%) were classified as serious. Among these, a causality assessment identified 31 reports at least potentially related to the vaccination (RR: 6.86/100,000 AD). Febrile seizures following MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, varicella) vaccination accounted for 11 of these 31 cases, with an incidence of 32 per 100,000 AD. No fatal outcomes were reported. Our findings support the highly favorable risk profile of pediatric vaccinations and the possibility to improve spontaneous reporting through the integration of digital technologies.
Project description:Background: China has a high incidence rate of varicella yet a low coverage rate of the varicella vaccine (VarV), with safety concerns being a leading cause of the lack of vaccination willingness. This study aimed to describe VarV-related adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) and analyze their characteristics in Zhejiang, China, 2020-2022. Methods: VarV-related AEFIs in Zhejiang Province from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022 were collected through the Chinese National AEFI Information System (CNAEFIS) for a descriptive epidemiological analysis. Results: From 2020 to 2022, a total of 1477 VarV-related AEFI cases were reported (incidence rate: 34.79/100,000). The three most frequently reported clinical symptoms of common adverse reactions were fever, redness, and induration at the vaccination site. The distribution of VarV-related AEFIs varied significantly by age, dose, severity, and season. VarV-related AEFIs were more likely to be non-severe adverse events that occurred in the summer and winter seasons following the first dose of vaccine and among those under 3 years old. The top three regions with the highest incidence rates were Lishui City (59.53/100,000), Quzhou City (41.05/100,000), and Jinhua City (40.43/100,000). Most of the cases achieved full recovery without treatment (96.21%), and the rest were successfully treated without any sequelae. Conclusions: VarV demonstrates a safe profile in Zhejiang Province. Most VarV-related AEFIs are common reactions without requiring treatment, and the rates of rare and severe AEFIs remain low. Consistent monitoring, investigation, and diagnosis are needed to guide future VarV research and vaccination strategy adjustment. Our findings call for more policy changes, such as integrating VarV into China's National Immunization Program and conducting more trials to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of VarV.
Project description:PurposeCardiovascular adverse events (AEs) after use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors have been reported and suspected since the launch of DPP-4 inhibitors in 2006. However, few studies have investigated the association between cardiovascular AEs and DPP-4 inhibitors. The objective of this study is to detect the signals of cardiovascular AEs after use of DPP-4 inhibitors by analyzing the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management-Korea Adverse Event Reporting System Database (KIDS-KD).Materials and methodsData on the use of oral antidiabetic drugs from 2008 to 2016 were extracted from KIDS-KD, and analyzed descriptively. Data mining was conducted by calculating three indices, which were proportional reporting ratios, reporting odds ratios, and information components, to detect signals from use of all oral antidiabetic drugs including DPP-4 inhibitors. Then, the suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were confirmed by signal detection, and drug label information between the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were compared.ResultsCardiovascular AEs after taking DPP-4 inhibitors were detected in only three (1.0%) out of a total of 307 AE reports. Two of the three cardiovascular AEs were reported after using sitagliptin and one using gemiglipitin, but these were not statistically significant.ConclusionAnalysis of spontaneous ADR reports data on the use of DPP-4 inhibitors could not showed the association between DPP-4 inhibitors and cardiovascular AEs, due to a small number of cardiovascular AEs reports.