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Complications

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Pain, swelling or redness at the injection site is common and may occur more frequently following subsequent doses

  • a small painless nodule may form at the injection site; this usually disappears and is of no consequence
  • incidence of local reactions is lower with vaccines combined with acellular pertussis than with whole-cell pertussis, and is similar to that after DT vaccine

Fever, convulsions, high-pitched screaming and episodes of pallor, cyanosis and limpness (hypotonic - hyporesponsive episodes (HHE)) occur with equal frequency after both DTaP and DT vaccines.

Confirmed anaphylaxis occurs extremely rarely

  • data from the UK, Canada and the US point to rates of 0.65 to 3 anaphylaxis events per million doses
  • other allergic conditions may occur more commonly and are not contraindications to further immunisation (1)

In the past, there was public and professional anxiety that whole-cell pertussis vaccine contributed to the onset of neurological problems in young children but whole-cell pertussis vaccine has not been used in the UK since 2004

Reference:

  • The Green Book - Chapter 15 - Pertussis (April 2019)

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