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[Preprint]. 2023 Nov 10:2023.11.09.23298266.
doi: 10.1101/2023.11.09.23298266.

Post-Vaccination Syndrome: A Descriptive Analysis of Reported Symptoms and Patient Experiences After Covid-19 Immunization

Harlan M Krumholz  1   2   3   4 , Yilun Wu  1   5 , Mitsuaki Sawano  1   3 , Rishi Shah  1   6 , Tianna Zhou  7 , Adith S Arun  7 , Pavan Khosla  7 , Shayaan Kaleem  8 , Anushree Vashist  1   9 , Bornali Bhattacharjee  2   10 , Qinglan Ding  11 , Yuan Lu  1   3 , César Caraballo  1   12 , Frederick Warner  1   3 , Chenxi Huang  1   3 , Jeph Herrin  3 , David Putrino  13 , Danice Hertz  14 , Brianne Dressen  15 , Akiko Iwasaki  2   10   16
Affiliations

Post-Vaccination Syndrome: A Descriptive Analysis of Reported Symptoms and Patient Experiences After Covid-19 Immunization

Harlan M Krumholz et al. medRxiv. .

Abstract

Introduction: A chronic post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) after covid-19 vaccination has been reported but has yet to be well characterized.

Methods: We included 241 individuals aged 18 and older who self-reported PVS after covid-19 vaccination and who joined the online Yale Listen to Immune, Symptom and Treatment Experiences Now (LISTEN) Study from May 2022 to July 2023. We summarized their demographics, health status, symptoms, treatments tried, and overall experience.

Results: The median age of participants was 46 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 38 to 56), with 192 (80%) identifying as female, 209 (87%) as non-Hispanic White, and 211 (88%) from the United States. Among these participants with PVS, 127 (55%) had received the BNT162b2 [Pfizer-BioNTech] vaccine, and 86 (37%) received the mRNA-1273 [Moderna] vaccine. The median time from the day of index vaccination to symptom onset was three days (IQR: 1 day to 8 days). The time from vaccination to symptom survey completion was 595 days (IQR: 417 to 661 days). The median Euro-QoL visual analogue scale score was 50 (IQR: 39 to 70). The five most common symptoms were exercise intolerance (71%), excessive fatigue (69%), numbness (63%), brain fog (63%), and neuropathy (63%). In the week before survey completion, participants reported feeling unease (93%), fearfulness (82%), and overwhelmed by worries (81%), as well as feelings of helplessness (80%), anxiety (76%), depression (76%), hopelessness (72%), and worthlessness (49%) at least once. Participants reported a median of 20 (IQR: 13 to 30) interventions to treat their condition.

Conclusions: In this study, individuals who reported PVS after covid-19 vaccination had low health status, high symptom burden, and high psychosocial stress despite trying many treatments. There is a need for continued investigation to understand and treat this condition.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Distribution of health status, measured by the Euro-QoL visual analogue scale.
Presented for (A) all participants who reported PVS, (B) all participants who reported PVS stratified by gender, (C) all participants who reported PVS stratified by age group (old if aged 60 years or above), and (D) all participants who reported PVS stratified by index vaccination type. Median values are indicated with dashed lines. Assessed by the question, “Please choose one point in this 0–100 scale, which can best represent your health today (0 means the worst and 100 means the best).” (Supplemental Appendix [Health status questions]). IQR, Interquartile Range; PVS, Post-vaccination Syndrome
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Top 25 most common symptoms with their corresponding symptom groups within 241 participants who reported PVS.
HEENT, Head, Ears, Eyes, Nose, Throat; PVS, Post-vaccination Syndrome
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. The frequency of treatments tried among PVS participants, grouped by categories.
NSAID, Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug; PVS, Post-vaccination Syndrome
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Top 15 most-tried individual treatments among PVS participants.
The “probiotics” category contains probiotics as the only component. PVS, Post-vaccination Syndrome
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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