According to the CDC, approximately 50 percent of individuals who receive the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) experience pain and redness at the injection site. Muscle aches, fever, and more severe localized reactions can also occur following administration of PPSV23.
PNEUMOVAX23 (PPSV23) adverse reactions reported in adults during pre-licensing clinical trials: injection site pain, redness, itching, bruising and swelling, headache, chills, fever, diarrhea, dyspepsia, nausea, upper respiratory infection, back pain, neck pain, pharyngitis, muscle pain, fatigue, depression, ulcerative colitis, chest pain, angina pectoris, heart failure, tremor, stiffness, sweating, stroke, lumbar radiculopathy, pancreatitis, myocardial infarction, and death.
Nearly 80 percent of individuals participating in pre-licensing clinical trials experienced an injection-site adverse reaction following revaccination at three to five years following the initial vaccine. The rate of systemic adverse reactions (headache, fatigue, myalgia) following revaccination with PPSV23 was also higher with 33 percent of adults aged 65 and older and 37.5 percent of adults between 50 and 64 reporting an adverse reaction.
PNEUMOVAX23 (PPSV23) adverse reactions reported post-marketing: Anaphylactoid reactions, serum sickness, angioneurotic edema, arthritis, arthralgia, vomiting, nausea, decreased limb mobility, peripheral edema in the limb where injection occurred, fever, malaise, cellulitis, injection site warmth, lymphadenopathy, lymphadenitis, leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia in patients with stabilized idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, hemolytic anemia in patients who have had other hematologic disorders, paresthesia, Guillain-Barré syndrome, radiculoneuropathy, febrile convulsion, rash, erythema multiforme, urticaria, and cellulitis-like reactions.
While PNEUMOVAX23 (PPSV23) is approved for use in children aged two and older with conditions such as chronic heart and lung disease, diabetes, cochlear implants, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, sickle cell anemia, functional or anatomic asplenia, and immunosuppression, no information on vaccine safety or effectiveness in children is available from the vaccine’s product insert.
Studies have linked PPSV23 to systemic inflammatory reactions, cellulitis and fever.
