adverse reactions

Last edited 04/2019

Adverse reactions

• pain, swelling or redness at the injection site, low grade fever, malaise, shivering, fatigue, headache, myalgia and arthralgia are among the commonly reported symptoms after intramuscular or intradermal vaccination
  
  
• a small painless nodule (induration) may also form at the injection site - these symptoms usually disappear within one to two days without treatment
  
  
• nasal congestion/ rhinorrhoea, reduced appetite, weakness and headache are common adverse reaction following administration of LAIV
  
  
• immediate reactions can occur
  • such as urticaria, angio-oedema, bronchospasm and anaphylaxis

The following adverse events have been reported very rarely after influenza vaccination over the past 30 years but no causal association has been established:

• neuralgia, paraesthesia, convulsions and transient thrombocytopenia, vasculitis with transient renal involvement and neurological disorders such as encephalomyelitis (1)

Guillain-Barre syndrome as a result of vaccination against influenza is rare - about one case per million people inoculated (2).

Reference:

• (1) The Green Book. Chapter 19 - Influenza (April 2019)
• (2) NEJM 1998; 339: 1797-1802.