Post-vaccination complications

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COVID 19: antibody tests

Vaccination certainly protects people from dangerous diseases and has saved many lives, but many people have an ambiguous attitude towards it, to put it mildly. People are afraid of possible complications, even serious ones. And although statistics claim that the percentage of not only complications, but even simple adverse reactions from modern vaccinations is extremely insignificant, impressionable people, especially mothers, can understand: what do they care about statistics when it comes to the health of their own child.

In this article we will talk about the possible consequences of vaccinations, how to distinguish typical post-vaccination reactions from complications, describe the most common ones and advise what to do in such cases.

Reactions and complications after vaccination

From the body’s point of view, any vaccine is an attempt to introduce foreign substances into it, to which our body naturally reacts. As a rule, vaccination is either asymptomatic or with minor adverse reactions: they are not long-lasting, not persistent and do not lead to any serious health consequences.

But in very rare cases, serious complications occur with the risk of permanent health problems. True, it is worth saying that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between post-vaccination reactions and post-vaccination complications - the symptoms are often the same: it is even customary to call reactions and complications the same term “adverse reactions”.

Post-vaccination reactions

Post-vaccination reactions are a normal reaction of the body to the introduction of a vaccine. All of them are characterized by a short duration (usually 1-2 days, up to a maximum of 5), go away on their own without external intervention and, most importantly, do not cause any negative consequences for the body of the vaccinated person.

Specific reactions largely depend on the type of vaccine (for live vaccines they can be similar to symptoms of the disease), and they are usually divided into local and general.

Local reactions

These are reactions localized at the site of vaccine administration. The most typical:

Redness and induration, swelling, hardening of lymph nodes
Painful sensations
Allergic rash

These are typical reactions to damage to the skin during an injection and the appearance of “strangers” in the body. But you need to be careful: if, for example, redness is more than 8 cm and swelling is more than 5 cm, you should consult a doctor. Painful sensations should go away within 1-3 days; if the pain is severe or interferes with sleep, you can give an anesthetic.

With repeated vaccination, local reactions occur more often: for example, for DTP - up to 50%, pneumococcal - up to 20%, for other vaccinations - from 5 to 15%. Of the live vaccines, local reactions are most often observed for BCG (for tuberculosis).

Sometimes vaccines are specially formulated to cause local reactions, which increases the body's immune response. For such vaccines (DTP, ADS, hepatitis A, B), local reactions are natural and should not cause concern.

Local reactions and their intensity are also influenced by the method of vaccine administration: it is better to do it intramuscularly, since the muscles are well supplied with blood - as a result, the vaccine is absorbed faster and the effectiveness of the vaccine increases.

You can find out more about local reactions in a separate article.

General reactions

Reactions that affect the body as a whole, but pass quickly and do not cause subsequent complications. The most typical of them:

The most well-known is an increase in temperature: if it does not exceed 38-38.5 degrees and goes away within 2-3 days, there is nothing to worry about.
General lethargy, discomfort, feeling of malaise, headache, dizziness, anxiety can last 2-3 days and are mild and do not interfere with usual activity.
Sometimes there are short-term problems with sleep and even loss of appetite.
Some components of vaccines can rarely cause allergic reactions, which manifest themselves as a rash.
When using live vaccines, you may experience mild symptoms of the disease being vaccinated against: this is a normal reaction for this type of vaccine.

Normal reactions

Here are normal reactions to some vaccines, including those included in the national vaccination calendar:

DTP - the injection site may hurt and there may be slight swelling, a short-term increase in temperature to subfebrile and even febrile levels for up to 3 days.
BCG is a papule at the injection site that erodes and a scar remains in its place.
Hepatitis B – possible pain at the injection site for no more than 3 days.
OPV – without general reactions.
Measles is a low-grade fever that may appear on days 7-12; it lasts no more than 3 days and does not require antipyretic medications. Measles rash is extremely rare.
Rubella - after 6-14 days, cold symptoms may appear: low fever, sore throat, runny nose, but all this quickly passes without outside intervention.
Mumps - pain at the injection site, a slight increase in temperature and mild malaise for 5-15 days.
Chicken pox – within 3 weeks a small number of elements of chickenpox rash may appear, and a slight increase in temperature.
Rotavirus infection - fever, vomiting and diarrhea, which quickly disappear.
COVID-19 in most cases is mild or moderate in nature and is short-lived: fever, weakness, headache. muscle pain, chills, diarrhea, pain at the injection site. The likelihood of experiencing any of these side effects varies depending on the vaccine.

More severe and prolonged reactions are possible but are extremely rare. In addition, vaccines are constantly undergoing new tests. This is done to identify rare side effects.

The given list of possible side effects in no way claims to be complete or absolute truth: we just want to reassure parents whose children have been vaccinated.

Frequency of adverse reactions

The consequences of using known vaccines have been well studied, including the frequency of adverse reactions: they occur in no more than 10% of vaccinated people, and in 95% of cases the symptoms are so minor that they do not require visiting a doctor. The vaccine against rubella causes general reactions on average in 5% of cases, and against hepatitis B – 7% of local reactions.

As for possible complications, they occur much less frequently than adverse reactions: for most vaccines - 1 case per million or more vaccinations, and severe ones - even less often.

Timing of reactions

Adverse reactions to inactive vaccines usually appear early (within a few hours), but they are mild and pass quickly.

As a rule, side effects of vaccines appear within 4 weeks, and only after BCG side effects can be observed even after 14 weeks.

Reactions to a live measles vaccine cannot appear earlier than 4 days and later than 12-14 days, for polio and mumps vaccines - 30 days.

Myths about COVID-19 vaccination

Adverse events are normal possible consequences of receiving any vaccine. But in addition to the usual and carefully studied effects, there is an opinion that Sputnik V may cause unexpected long-term consequences:

Myth #1: Vaccines cause infertility.

None of the known vaccines affects the reproductive function of men or women. The issue of safety for offspring remains one of the most important for developers of medicines, including vaccines. This is considered a serious adverse event. Therefore, if there is minimal doubt, the drug will not pass phase 1 of clinical trials on laboratory animals. In this case, further development will be stopped. Vaccines that have passed the second and third phases are guaranteed to be safe for future parents.

There is no evidence that any vaccine causes fertility problems. But how a pregnant woman’s body will react to a coronavirus infection is a big question.

Myth #2: Vaccines affect DNA

None of the vaccines registered today are capable of integrating into DNA. Vaccines do not penetrate the cell nucleus, where the DNA is located. Therefore she is safe. The origin of this myth is unknown to science.

Myth No. 3: You can get infected with coronavirus from the vaccine and get a positive PCR test

The vaccine does not cause active disease, but stimulates specific immunity in other ways. PCR after vaccination will be positive only if you become infected before vaccination. The sooner you get vaccinated, the faster specific immunity will form. The only risk I see is a short-term increase in body temperature. It can be detected, for example, at the airport and prevent departure. Therefore, ideally, you should get vaccinated two to three days before your flight.

Myth No. 4: You can’t get vaccinated if you have chronic diseases.

In this case, it is better to consult with your doctor before vaccination. If a chronic disease worsens, vaccination may need to be postponed. Or perhaps not. But chronic diseases themselves are not contraindications. On the contrary, they greatly increase the risk of severe coronavirus infection. In this case, it is safer to get vaccinated and protect the weakened body.

Post-vaccination complications, unlike adverse reactions, are much more complex and can have serious consequences. But they also occur much less frequently - approximately one case per million vaccinations. At the same time, it would not be amiss to recall that similar complications in the case of a disease that the vaccine protects against occur hundreds of times more often.

Causes of complications

There are three main groups of causes of complications after vaccination:

The reactogenic properties of the vaccine depend on its components, the immune activity of the drug, changes in the properties of the vaccine strain, and contamination of the vaccine. The most reactogenic are DTP and BCG, the most “heavy” drugs are used in vaccines against rubella, mumps, hepatitis B, and polio.
Features of the body : hidden pathologies that can worsen due to the body’s reaction to the vaccine, the body’s tendency to allergies, autoimmune pathologies, weakened immunity and more.
Violations of vaccination technique by medical workers, unfortunately, are one of the most common causes of complications after vaccination: incorrect dosage, poor sterilization, incorrect immunization technique or instructions were violated, the wrong solvent was used, the vaccine was incorrectly diluted or not mixed, improper storage, contraindications were not taken into account.

Types of post-vaccination complications

All possible complications after vaccination can be divided into several groups:

The body's reaction to the vaccine components:

acute allergies: anaphylactic shock, urticaria, Lyell's and Stevens-Johnson syndromes, Quincke's edema; with timely assistance, as a rule, it does not leave consequences;
a few hours after vaccination, usually DTP, the child begins to cry loudly and squeal: it’s hard to listen to, but after 3 hours it goes away and does not pose a danger to the baby;
after 1-3 hours, severe muscle weakness may occur, which quickly goes away.

Reactions due to poor quality of the vaccine, usually caused by violation of the rules of its storage and transportation:

the declared immunity is never formed;
more noticeable local reactions;
if the sterility of the vaccine is compromised, abscesses, cellulitis or other acute inflammatory changes may occur.

Post-vaccination complications (PVC) are often associated with violations of vaccine administration technology and violation of asepsis rules: they can lead to purulent-inflammatory diseases. If the BCG vaccine is administered subcutaneously rather than intradermally, a cold abscess develops. When the vaccine is administered into the gluteal muscle instead of the tibial or deltoid muscle, there is a risk of injuring the sciatic nerve or getting inflammation of the subcutaneous fatty tissue. Failure to comply with the rules of asepsis threatens with acute general or local inflammation. And if you inject a vaccine intended for oral administration, pronounced local or general reactions are possible.
Administration of a vaccine may cause the disease for which it is intended.
Severe complications can be caused by immunodeficiency in children: meningitis, vaccine-associated polio or encephalitis, BCG osteomyelitis, BCG infection. Fortunately, even with a weakened immune system, such complications are extremely rare. And most importantly: without vaccination, complications after an infection may be more pronounced and have an unfavorable prognosis.

The following describes possible complications after specific vaccinations - all of them are described in detail in the instructions for the drugs for the diseases listed below:

Hepatitis B rarely causes a temperature above 39 degrees, general reactions (nausea and vomiting, headache, weakness, arthritis), skin rash, optic neuritis and some others.
DTP vaccine has a high risk of complications and allergic reactions. The most dangerous component of the vaccine is pertussis, which can affect the brain. But the DPT variety, the ADSM vaccine, does not contain a pertussis component, so adverse reactions from it, not to mention complications, are extremely rare. General reactions to DPT - temperature 38-39 degrees, local - pain, redness or thickening, possible severe complications: strong crying of the child, turning into a squeal, temperature up to 40 degrees, vomiting, convulsions, post-vaccination encephalitis, neuritis, polyradiculoneuritis, skin allergic manifestations .
The only serious consequence of the OPV vaccination against polio is vaccine-associated polio, but it is extremely rare, and even then usually due to a background of immunity deficiency.
After vaccinations against measles, rubella and mumps, serious complications are very, very rare: thrombocytopenia, pneumonia, one-sided deafness, panencephalitis.
Possible reactions to the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis :
local: scar, ulcer, cold abscess, regional lymphadenitis;
osteitis, lymphadenitis, extremely rarely - allergic vasculitis or lupus erythematosus;
very rarely, children with T-cell immunodeficiency may develop a generalized BCG infection;
allergic reactions: rash, erythema nodosum, granuloma annulare, rash, anaphylactic shock, secondary infection.

Why fill out a vaccination diary at State Services?

You can register possible adverse events on the government services website. This is necessary in order to collect as many statistics as possible and draw broader conclusions about the safety of the vaccine. This is especially important if the administration of the vaccine in a particular case is accompanied by serious adverse reactions.

In most cases, adverse events from vaccination go away within a short time without harm, unlike coronavirus infection. So far, there have been no serious complications or deaths reliably linked to Sputnik V or other Russian vaccines.

Tips and tricks

Despite the frightening list of possible adverse reactions and complications from vaccines, the main thing to remember is that severe consequences are extremely rare and they know how to deal with them, and local and general reactions are not so frequent, mild and not dangerous to health.

However, for several days or weeks after vaccination (how long depends on the specific vaccine), you should carefully monitor your child's well-being:

High fever for 3 or more days, shortness of breath, convulsions, frequent vomiting, severe headache and other noticeable and persistent deviations from normal health are a reason to call a doctor.
The administration of a vaccine is always an additional burden on the body, sometimes quite significant, so in the first days after vaccination you should rest more and avoid noticeable physical and emotional stress.
When the temperature rises above 38°, antipyretic drugs are used in combination with physical methods - cold compresses, wiping with a damp sponge. It is especially important to reduce the temperature in children prone to seizures and with hypertensive-hydrocephalic syndrome.
Carefully monitor the condition of the body if a vaccinated child, especially a child, has a high risk of allergic reactions.
During the first 2 weeks before and after vaccination, it is better to avoid foods that are obligate allergens: seafood, honey and chocolate, eggs, strawberries, raspberries, citrus fruits.
In the first 7-10 days, try to avoid contact with other people to reduce the risk of colds. This is especially true for people with reduced immunity and chronic diseases.
It is recommended to do a general urine test 3 to 4 weeks after vaccination to identify possible kidney complications: this is especially important for children with diseases of the urinary organs. The analysis will also allow timely detection of deviations and take the necessary measures.