Syndromic surveillance of vaccine-associated adverse events in U.S. emergency departments

Lakshmi Radhakrishnan; Zachary Stein; Jourdan DeVies; Amanda Smith; Michael Sheppard; Kathleen P Hartnett; Aaron Kite-Powell; Jennifer Adjemian; Loren E Rodgers

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.06.030

Syndromic surveillance of vaccine-associated adverse events in U.S. emergency departments

Vaccine. 2021 Jul 13;39(31):4250-4255. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.06.030. Epub 2021 Jun 22.

Authors

Lakshmi Radhakrishnan¹, Zachary Stein², Jourdan DeVies¹, Amanda Smith³, Michael Sheppard¹, Kathleen P Hartnett⁴, Aaron Kite-Powell¹, Jennifer Adjemian⁴, Loren E Rodgers⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Health Informatics and Surveillance, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
² ICF International Inc., 2635 Corporate Blvd NE Suite 1000, Atlanta, GA 30345, USA.
³ Division of Health Informatics and Surveillance, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA; Epidemic Intelligence Service assigned to Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
⁴ Division of Health Informatics and Surveillance, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA; U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
⁵ Division of Health Informatics and Surveillance, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA; U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Rockville, MD 20852, USA. Electronic address: lrodgers@cdc.gov.

PMID: 34167835
DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.06.030

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explored use of emergency department (ED) visit data, during 2018-2020, from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program to monitor vaccine-associated adverse events (VAE) among all age groups. A combination of chief complaint terms and administrative diagnosis codes were used to detect VAE-related ED visits. Postvaccination fever was among the top 10 most frequently noted diagnoses. VAE annual trends demonstrated seasonality; visits trended upward starting in September of each year, coinciding with the administration of seasonal influenza vaccines. The 2020 VAE-related visit trend declined below the 2018 and 2019 baselines during March 22-September 5, 2020, before returning to the seasonal pattern. VAE-related visits declined in children aged 3-18 years in 2020 compared with 2018-2019, especially in the back-to-school months. These findings demonstrate that syndromic surveillance can complement traditional VAE reporting systems without an additional demand on data collection resources.

Keywords: Emergency department; Emergency medicine; Immunisation safety; Public health; Surveillance; Vaccine adverse events.

Published by Elsevier Ltd.

MeSH terms

Child
Data Collection
Emergency Service, Hospital
Humans
Influenza Vaccines* / adverse effects
Population Surveillance
Sentinel Surveillance*
United States / epidemiology

Substances

Influenza Vaccines