Meningococcal Vaccination and Risk of Serious Adverse Events A Systematic Review

Background Adverse events after immunization are an integral part of meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine that need to be minimized by a holistic approach from production to administration. This study aimed to characterize serious adverse events in meningococcal vaccine recipients. Methods A search was carried out following a strategy Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines using PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO, and SCOPUS databases till May 2020. A series of cases, observational prospective and retrospective cohort, case and control, randomized control trials, and patients of any age vaccinated against meningococcus were included. Results A total of 8 selected studies included 7,213,663 children and adults, immunized with meningococcal vaccines. Adverse events in the neurological system are shown (4 studies); the most important are seizures, respiratory system (dyspnea and bronchospasm) and dermatological reactions (angioedema), anaphylaxis, and infectious processes. Conclusions Vaccination is adequate protection against meningococcal infections, with reported minimal adverse effects after immunization that do not constitute absolute contraindications to vaccination except allergic or anaphylactic reaction that needs further evaluation.