Evaluating Vaccine Safety Definitions in Ethiopia
Author Information
Author(s): Sintayehu Kassech, Shaum Anna, Bonger Zelalem Tazu, Dagnachew Zeleke Eden, Mamo Biniyam Tedla, Anito Abenezer Abraham, Bekele Dawit, Longley Ashley T., Gashaw Habtamu, Alemu Asnakech, Degefaw Desalegne, Wang Shu-Hua, Huang Wan-Ting
Primary Institution: Ohio State Global One Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Hypothesis
The Brighton Collaboration case definitions (BCCD) can be effectively applied in low-resource settings like Ethiopia for monitoring vaccine safety.
Conclusion
The BCCD were successfully applied in over 95% of cases in a large referral hospital in Ethiopia, with some exceptions.
Supporting Evidence
- 203 adverse events of special interest (AESI) cases were detected during the study.
- The most common conditions detected were thrombosis and thromboembolism (49%) and generalized convulsions (19%).
- 96% of cases were confirmed at levels 1-3 of certainty.
Takeaway
This study looked at how well certain definitions for vaccine safety worked in a big hospital in Ethiopia, and they found that most of the time, they worked really well.
Methodology
Active surveillance was conducted at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, where trained physicians identified patients eligible for COVID-19 vaccination presenting with adverse events.
Potential Biases
The interpretation of symptoms by surveillance officers could introduce bias in case identification.
Limitations
Data quality relied on medical records, which had missing information and lacked standard coding, potentially leading to missed cases.
Participant Demographics
The majority of participants were female (59%) and resided in Addis Ababa (58%).
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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