Evaluation of Adverse Effects After MenACWY-TT Vaccination in Children and Adults

Objective: Neisseria meningitidis infections have high mortality and morbidity (10-20% and 15%, respectively), but can be prevented by vac-cination. Conjugated MenACWY-TT vaccine is a safe vaccine approved for use in both children and adults. Knowing the side effects plays an important role in the acceptance of vaccines by both the physician and the society. In our study, it was aimed to evaluate the side effects in children and adults who were vaccinated with MenACWY-TT. Material and Methods: MenACWY-TT vaccines, which are available for use in pilgrimage and umrah travel vaccinations, at Konya Health Direc-torate, were administered to healthy volunteers by Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine, Family Medicine and Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Medical Faculty Pediatric Infectious Diseases departments. Vaccine recipients were observed for 30 minutes for acute adverse events. After vaccination, a survey research was planned, and contact information of the vaccinated people was ob-tained. One month after vaccination, demographic information, chronic diseases, and side effects from previous routine vaccinations were re-corded for individuals who were contacted by phone and accepted the questionnaire. Local and systemic side effects that developed in the first month period after vaccination were questioned. The volunteer group was examined in two groups as under 18 years old and over. Results: Six hundred and nineteen individuals (310 children-309 adults) were included in the study. Mean age of the subjects included in the study was 22.5 ± 18.2 years. Vaccination rate was found to be higher in adults with comorbidities (n= 37, %12) than in children (n= 22, %7.1). Vaccine side effects were detected in 88 (14.2%) individuals, 35 (11.3%) were children and 53 (17.2%) were adults. The most common local side effects were pain (n= 43; 6.9%), redness (n= 15, 2.4%) and swelling (n= 11, 1.8%). Pain com-plaints were statistically higher in adults than in children (p= 0.039). The most common systemic side effects were fever (n= 18, 2.9%), fatigue (n= 9, 1.5%) and nausea (n= 7, 1.1%). There was no statistical difference between children and adults in terms of systemic side effects. Conclusion: Local and systemic side effects in children and adults vaccinated with MenACWY-TT were lower than reported in the literature. We think that the low side-effect profile will make a significant contribution to vaccine acceptance.