Cellulitis post pneumococcal vaccine

Nurses Safety

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Has anyone here had a patient develop cellulitis around the injection site post pneumococcal vaccine? I'm talking for both the polysaccharide (Pneumovax 23) as well as the conjugate (Prevnar 13 or Synflorix) Literature for the Pneumovax 23 states that there's a very slight chance of developing a "cellulitis-like reaction" after the vaccine.

I work in a family practice and we have had 3 patients develop a severe "cellulitis like" reaction within 24 hours of receiving the pneumococcal vaccines. One was early November after receiving the Prevnar and the other two were within the last 2 weeks, both received Pneumovax. The arm that was vaccinated was very red, hot to the touch, swollen and painful from the shoulder to the elbow. The doctor started the patients on antibiotic and the cellulitis resolved within about 48 hours. All the lot numbers were different and they were given by different nurses. The only thing that they had in common was that they received the flu shot at the same time.

Has anyone experienced this before? The literature states that this reaction is very rare for the pneumovax (2 in 100,000) and there's no mention with the Prevnar.

Any comments?

I live in Idaho. I wasnt aware of the Vaers until the post above. (Thank you) The Dr in the ER contacted the health department when I was discharged and the other 2 people came into the ER with the same symptoms. I found out today the idaho Cdhd contacted The pharmacy that I received the vaccines from. I went in today and filled out the Vaers form with the pharmacy manager. Any information about this would be greatly appreciated. It was a very serious and scary ordeal. I have health insurance but I met my out of pocket maximum and Missed 5 days of work. I hear there is a vaccine injury compensation program?

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

The compensation fund isn't likely to reimburse for 5 days lost wages. It's intended for higher $$ losses but you cannot be certain unless you ask. It's not an instantaneous payout. You must prove cause and provide backup documentation to support your claim. And it must be determined to be caused by the vaccine not incidental to poor technique. You cannot sterilize an arm, it's impossible. You can clean the area with an antiseptic using clean technique (vaccines aren't a sterile procedure). Poor antiseptic cleaning technique can increase the infection potential.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

For the compensation fund you must have a vaccine injury that has lasted 6 months OR resulted in hospitalization AND surgery OR death. You don't qualify. The filing fee is $400. Plus you have the burden to prove the vaccine caused your injury not poor technique

Unlike polio & MMR you would be required to submit medical, lab and clinical proof that the pneumonia and influenza vaccines directly caused the sepsis & cellulitis resulting in a hospitalization.

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When all is said and done medical bills and lost wages is about $3,000. Which without insurance would have been 18k, so I am thankful for that but I am single and live alone so anything would help. My discharge paperwork and diagnosis says sepsis and cellulitus. i guess the next step is to contact the dr who treated me in the hospital to get more information. Thanks for the help!

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
When all is said and done medical bills and lost wages is about $3,000. Which without insurance would have been 18k, so I am thankful for that but I am single and live alone so anything would help. My discharge paperwork and diagnosis says sepsis and cellulitus. i guess the next step is to contact the dr who treated me in the hospital to get more information. Thanks for the help!

Did you have surgery during your hospitalization? If not, you don't qualify. You must have surgery AND hospitalization.

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Considering step pneumo causes more deaths in the U.S. than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined, I think the benefits outweigh the risks (prevention of invasive pneumonia vs. temporary, severe, local reaction). PPSV23, PCV13, & all other vaccines do not cause cellulitis (which is skin infection caused by bacteria) themselves; if it was truly cellulitis, it would be d/t bacteria being introduced during preparation or administration of the injection. I'm not saying this happened; I just think they experienced an adverse reaction to the vaccine that was not cellulitis, such as:

angioneurotic edema, erythema multiforme, injection-site dermatitis, injection-site pruritus, injection-site urticaria, and lymphadenopathy localized to the region of the injection site CDC - Pinkbook: Pneumococcal Disease Chapter - Epidemiology of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases

By the way, local reactions are common with both PCV13 & PPSV23; severe local reactions are rare.

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I received a pneumo vaccine yesterday and find myself searching today to see if anyone has complained of a cellulitis in the arm you received the vaccine in. I got a shot about 24 hours ago in my right arm. I woke up with a little bit of pain on my right clavicle bone which is tender to touch and red. Throughout the day the redness is traveling under my armpit and down my right arm below the anticubital but not involving the whole arm yet! I have never had cellulitis before but recognize the symptoms and cannot believe this. Guess I had better call my doctor.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
I received a pneumo vaccine yesterday and find myself searching today to see if anyone has complained of a cellulitis in the arm you received the vaccine in. I got a shot about 24 hours ago in my right arm. I woke up with a little bit of pain on my right clavicle bone which is tender to touch and red. Throughout the day the redness is traveling under my armpit and down my right arm below the anticubital but not involving the whole arm yet! I have never had cellulitis before but recognize the symptoms and cannot believe this. Guess I had better call my doctor.

We are unable to give medical advice-please call your doctor

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If I suspected that I had been injured by any type of medical treatment, including a vaccine, I'd talk to a lawyer. I seriously doubt the correctness of some of the information presented in this thread regarding applying for and receiving the US's VICP compensation. The website below has information that might be helpful, but again, there is no substitute for professional legal advice when you have legal questions. Vaccine Injury Compensation – National Vaccine Information Center PS: I hope in the future that vaccines suspected of causing unusual reactions are preserved for investigative analysis, rather than being thrown away before the possible adverse reaction is reported to the FDA. It would help in sorting out whether or not an interaction between two vaccines is occurring, or whether there could be a bad batch of either vaccine involved.

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Hi. I live in Taunton, MA and had same thing happen to me in May 2015. I received shot (PPV23) and within an hour I started having itching ,swelling, redness, warmth and pain. Three hours after getting shot the swelling was a big as baseball on my arm and spread from my shoulder down to elbow. I was prescribed Prednisone and Antibiotic right away. It took a few days for the swelling to go down. First doctor said it was an allergy reaction then a few days later when I went back to doctors they said it was an infection. I still don't have any answer why this happened but I did report it to Vaers.

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I have also seen numerous cases diagnosed as cellulitis following pneumovax vaccines. Here is an article that describes a case series and includes additional references of similar reactions:

Systemic inflammatory reaction after pneumococcal vaccine: a case series.

von Elten KA, Duran LL, Banks TA, Collins LC.

Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2014;10(6):1767-70.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

I discussed this topic with a physician friend of mine last night and he felt that these cases were often not caused by the vaccine but poor hygiene either on the part of the patient or the hand hygiene of the nurse. I have given several vaccines where the alcohol wipe comes away dirty when I prep the site. That's when I get a wash cloth and some S&W and give the site a bit of a scrub.

hppy

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