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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.

Zoster Live (Zostavax)×Headache

Headache Reports for Zoster Live (Zostavax)

#6 most reported symptom for this vaccine

15,359
Reports
6
Deaths
279
Hospitalizations
0.04
Mortality Rate
%
1.8
Hosp. Rate
%

Headache and Zoster Live (Zostavax)

Headache has been reported 15,359 times in association with Zoster Live (Zostavax) vaccination in VAERS. This represents 10.9% of all 140,312 reports for this vaccine.

Among these reports, 6 mentioned death (0.04%) and 279 involved hospitalization (1.8%).

Headache is the #6 most frequently reported symptom for Zoster Live (Zostavax) out of 2827 total symptoms.

Disclaimer: VAERS reports describe events that occurred after vaccination but do not establish that the vaccine caused the event. Many reported symptoms may be coincidental or related to underlying conditions.

What This Means

Seeing 15,359 reports of Headache after Zoster Live (Zostavax) vaccination may seem alarming, but context is critical. With 140,312 total reports for this vaccine (representing many millions of doses), Headache appears in only 10.9% of reports.

The mortality rate among these reports is very low at 0.04%, suggesting most cases are non-fatal.

Important Context

Association, not causation: These reports show Headache occurred after vaccination, not that the vaccine caused it.
Background rates: Headache may occur naturally at baseline rates in the population, unrelated to vaccination.
Anyone can report: VAERS accepts reports from anyone — patients, parents, healthcare providers — without requiring medical verification.
Denominator missing: VAERS counts reports, not rates per dose. Without knowing how many doses were given, raw counts can be misleading. Learn more →

Quick Facts

Reports:15,359
Deaths:6
Hospitalizations:279
% of Vaccine:10.9%
Rank:#6 of 2827

Data Source

This data comes from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), jointly managed by CDC and FDA.