Joint Complications Associated With Derivatives of HPV-77 Rubella Virus Vaccine

Joint symptoms associated with use of rubella virus vaccine, live attenuated HPV-77, in children have been reported to be infrequent and mild. Following a statewide rubella vaccination campaign in Utah, a survey of 4,919 children revealed a 9.9% incidence of joint symptoms following administration of HPV-77-dog kidney-12 vaccine. Significantly fewer joint reactions (4.6%) occurred following HPV-77-duck embryo 5 vaccine. The incidence of joint symptoms in unvaccinated controls was less than 1%. Seventy percent of those with joint symptoms following the dog kidney vaccine had pain for more than three days, and 49% reported limitation of motion of the involved extremity. Thirty-eight percent of these children cried because of the pain, and one in every five children missed time from school. Only one child in the survey population was hospitalized.