Surveillance of adverse events following immunisation in Australia annual report, 2014

This report summarises Australian passive surveillance data for adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) for 2014 reported to the Therapeutic Goods Administration for 2014 and describes reporting trends over the 15-year period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2014. There were 3,087 AEFI records for vaccines administered in 2014; an annual AEFI reporting rate of 13.2 per 100,000 population. There was a decline of 5% in the overall AEFI reporting rate in 2014 compared with 2013. This decline in reported adverse events in 2014 compared with the previous year was mainly attributable to fewer reports following the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as it was the 2nd year of the extension of the National HPV Vaccination Program to males. AEFI reporting rates for most vaccines were lower in 2014 compared with 2013. The most commonly reported reactions were injection site reaction (27%), pyrexia (18%), rash (16%), vomiting (9%), headache (7%), and syncope (5%). The majority of AEFI reports described non-serious events while 7% (n=211) were classified as serious. There were 5 deaths reported with no clear causal relationship with vaccination found.