Background: In 1980, human diploid cell vaccine (HDCV, Imovax Rabies, Sanofi Pasteur), was licensed for use in the United States.
Objective: To assess adverse events (AEs) after HDCV reported to the US Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a spontaneous reporting surveillance system.
Methods: We searched VAERS for US reports after HDCV among persons vaccinated from January 1, 1990-July 31, 2015. Medical records were requested for reports classified as serious (death, hospitalization, prolonged hospitalization, disability, life-threatening-illness), and those suggesting anaphylaxis and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Physicians reviewed available information and assigned a primary clinical category to each report using MedDRA system organ classes. Empirical Bayesian (EB) data mining was used to identify disproportional AE reporting after HDCV.
Results: VAERS received 1,611 reports after HDCV; 93 (5.8%) were serious. Among all reports, the three most common AEs included pyrexia (18.2%), headache (17.9%), and nausea (16.5%). Among serious reports, four deaths appeared to be unrelated to vaccination.
Conclusions: This 25-year review of VAERS did not identify new or unexpected AEs after HDCV. The vast majority of AEs were non-serious. Injection site reactions, hypersensitivity reactions, and non-specific constitutional symptoms were most frequently reported, similar to findings in pre-licensure studies.