Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use authorization. We investigated the ocular adverse event reports in patients reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following vaccination against COVID-19. We searched the VAER...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Vaccines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/10/6/941 |
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| author | Cyril N. A. Nyankerh Akosua K. Boateng Mary Appah |
| author_facet | Cyril N. A. Nyankerh Akosua K. Boateng Mary Appah |
| author_sort | Cyril N. A. Nyankerh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use authorization. We investigated the ocular adverse event reports in patients reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following vaccination against COVID-19. We searched the VAERS database for U.S. reports among persons who received COVID-19 vaccines between December 2020 and December 2021. Our goal was to analyze and quantify the ocular adverse events submitted to VAERS to provide clinicians and researchers with a broader view of these ocular side effects. During the analysis period, VAERS received 55,313 adverse event reports and, after data cleaning, 6688 reports met the inclusion criteria. Note that 2229 (33.33%) adverse events were classified as cases of eyelid swelling, ocular hyperemia and conjunctivitis, 1785 (26.69%) as blurred vision and 1322 (19.77%) as visual impairment. Females accounted for 73.8% of adverse event reports and the age group between 40 and 59 years had the most frequent adverse events. A higher proportion of these adverse events reported to VAERS was linked with the Janssen and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. At the time of vaccination, a high proportion of patients reported conditions like allergies, hypertension, diabetes, thyroid disease, vascular and other autoimmune diseases. A review of these data suggests a possible association between COVID-19 vaccines and ocular adverse events. Physicians are cautioned not only to be aware of this potential problem, but to check any underlying patient conditions, and to carefully document in VAERS within a few weeks of vaccination. Future COVID-19 vaccine safety studies in healthy subjects would help clarify the vaccine’s safety profile. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:16:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a482e0c788b94d8b8ae1479f3068b1c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-393X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:16:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vaccines |
| spelling | doaj.art-a482e0c788b94d8b8ae1479f3068b1c52023-11-23T19:21:48ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2022-06-0110694110.3390/vaccines10060941Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting SystemCyril N. A. Nyankerh0Akosua K. Boateng1Mary Appah2Department of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USADepartment of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USADepartment of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USAIn December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use authorization. We investigated the ocular adverse event reports in patients reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following vaccination against COVID-19. We searched the VAERS database for U.S. reports among persons who received COVID-19 vaccines between December 2020 and December 2021. Our goal was to analyze and quantify the ocular adverse events submitted to VAERS to provide clinicians and researchers with a broader view of these ocular side effects. During the analysis period, VAERS received 55,313 adverse event reports and, after data cleaning, 6688 reports met the inclusion criteria. Note that 2229 (33.33%) adverse events were classified as cases of eyelid swelling, ocular hyperemia and conjunctivitis, 1785 (26.69%) as blurred vision and 1322 (19.77%) as visual impairment. Females accounted for 73.8% of adverse event reports and the age group between 40 and 59 years had the most frequent adverse events. A higher proportion of these adverse events reported to VAERS was linked with the Janssen and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. At the time of vaccination, a high proportion of patients reported conditions like allergies, hypertension, diabetes, thyroid disease, vascular and other autoimmune diseases. A review of these data suggests a possible association between COVID-19 vaccines and ocular adverse events. Physicians are cautioned not only to be aware of this potential problem, but to check any underlying patient conditions, and to carefully document in VAERS within a few weeks of vaccination. Future COVID-19 vaccine safety studies in healthy subjects would help clarify the vaccine’s safety profile.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/10/6/941COVID-19vaccinationocular complicationsadverse eventsVAERS |
| spellingShingle | Cyril N. A. Nyankerh Akosua K. Boateng Mary Appah Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System Vaccines COVID-19 vaccination ocular complications adverse events VAERS |
| title | Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System |
| title_full | Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System |
| title_fullStr | Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System |
| title_short | Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System |
| title_sort | ocular complications after covid 19 vaccination vaccine adverse event reporting system |
| topic | COVID-19 vaccination ocular complications adverse events VAERS |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/10/6/941 |
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