Important: VAERS reports alone cannot determine if a vaccine caused an adverse event. Reports may contain incomplete, inaccurate, or unverified information. Correlation does not equal causation.
Hepatitis A vaccines (Havrix, Vaqta) protect against the hepatitis A virus, which causes liver inflammation. Recommended for all children at age 1 and for adults at risk, this vaccine has an excellent safety profile with over 48,000 VAERS reports since the 1990s.
The following symptoms are most frequently reported after hepatitis A vaccination:
Very common (occurring in >10% of recipients):
Common (1-10%):
Rare:
Both Havrix (GSK) and Vaqta (Merck) are inactivated hepatitis A vaccines with similar efficacy and safety profiles. There is also Twinrix, a combination hepatitis A + B vaccine. All are given as a 2-dose series, with the second dose 6-18 months after the first.
Hepatitis A vaccines are among the better-tolerated vaccines. The relatively low number of VAERS reports compared to the hundreds of millions of doses administered reflects a favorable safety profile. Natural hepatitis A infection, by contrast, causes weeks of illness and can be fatal in older adults and people with chronic liver disease.