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.
Herpes zoster Reports for Zoster Live (Zostavax)
#1 most reported symptom for this vaccine
Herpes zoster and Zoster Live (Zostavax)
Herpes zoster has been reported 25,286 times in association with Zoster Live (Zostavax) vaccination in VAERS. This represents 18.0% of all 140,312 reports for this vaccine.
Among these reports, 92 mentioned death (0.36%) and 1,833 involved hospitalization (7.2%).
Herpes zoster is the #1 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 25,286 reports of Herpes zoster 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), Herpes zoster appears in only 18.0% of reports.
The mortality rate among these reports is very low at 0.36%, suggesting most cases are non-fatal.
Important Context
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Quick Facts
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Data Source
This data comes from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), jointly managed by CDC and FDA.