Prevnar Side Effects

Although most children do not develop any side effects after being vaccinated with Prevnar, problems are possible. Some of the side effects that have been reported with the vaccine include decreased appetite, drowsiness, and irritability. While most side effects of the vaccine are mild, you should seek medical attention immediately if your child experiences seizures, a high fever, or an allergic reaction.

Prevnar Vaccine Information

An Introduction to Prevnar Side Effects

As with all vaccines, side effects are possible with Prevnar^® (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine). However, not everyone who receives the vaccine will have problems. In fact, most children tolerate it quite well. If side effects do occur, in most cases, they are minor and either require no treatment or can easily be treated by you or your healthcare provider.

(This article covers many, but not all, of the possible side effects with Prevnar. Your healthcare provider can discuss a more complete list of Prevnar side effects with you.)

Common Side Effects of Prevnar

Prevnar has been studied thoroughly in clinical trials. In these studies, Prevnar was usually given along with other routine childhood vaccinations (such as the DTaP vaccine).

Therefore, in order to more accurately determine which side effects could be attributed to Prevnar, the studies generally compared a group of children who were given the standard vaccines plus Prevnar versus a similar group of children who were given just the standard vaccines. In these studies, the most common side effects with Prevnar (that occurred more frequently in the group given just Prevnar) included:

Irritability -- in up to 52.5 percent of children
Drowsiness -- up to 32.9 percent
A fever -- up to 21.1 percent
Decreased appetite -- up to 21.1 percent
Diarrhea -- up to 13.7 percent
Vomiting -- up to 13.4 percent.

Care must be taken when interpreting this data, since Prevnar was usually given along with other vaccines. For instance, it is not accurate to say that Prevnar caused irritability in 52.5 percent of children, since 45.2 percent of the children who received the standard vaccines alone (without Prevnar) also experienced irritability.

Skin reactions at the injection site (such as redness, tenderness, or a lump) were also common.

(Prevnar Side Effects Continued: Page 2)