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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)×Injection site swelling

Injection site swelling Reports for Zoster Live (Zostavax)

#10 most reported symptom for this vaccine

12,334
Reports
2
Deaths
94
Hospitalizations
0.02
Mortality Rate
%
0.8
Hosp. Rate
%

Injection site swelling and Zoster Live (Zostavax)

Injection site swelling has been reported 12,334 times in association with Zoster Live (Zostavax) vaccination in VAERS. This represents 8.8% of all 140,312 reports for this vaccine.

Among these reports, 2 mentioned death (0.02%) and 94 involved hospitalization (0.8%).

Injection site swelling is the #10 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 12,334 reports of Injection site swelling 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), Injection site swelling appears in only 8.8% of reports.

The mortality rate among these reports is very low at 0.02%, suggesting most cases are non-fatal.

Important Context

Association, not causation: These reports show Injection site swelling occurred after vaccination, not that the vaccine caused it.
Background rates: Injection site swelling 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:12,334
Deaths:2
Hospitalizations:94
% of Vaccine:8.8%
Rank:#10 of 2827

Data Source

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