Safety of chikungunya vaccines for adolescents and adults: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To systematically review the safety of different types of chikungunya vaccines in human populations.

Methods: This study retrieved randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting on the safety of chikungunya vaccines in human populations through electronic searches of the Web of Science, PubMed, EMbase, and Cochrane Library databases. Two reviewers independently performed literature screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment for the included studies. Meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 18.0 software.

Results: A total of eight RCTs involving 9 336 subjects were included in this study. Meta-analysis showed that three out of the five chikungunya vaccines (VLA1553, mRNA-1388, and PXVX0317) exhibited favorable safety profiles, with no significant increase in the incidence of serious adverse events. The vaccine group had a higher incidence of any adverse events [risk ratio (RR)=1.26, P<0.001] and any systemic adverse events (RR=1.18, P=0.010) compared to the placebo group. The incidence of local adverse events was also higher in the vaccine group (RR=2.09, P<0.001). However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the incidences of erythema (RR=1.41, P=0.402), headache (RR=1.14, P=0.457), or arthralgia (RR=1.45, P=0.660).

Conclusions: Current evidence supports that chikungunya vaccines have a favorable safety profile. However, due to limitations in the number and quality of included studies, further high-quality research is needed to validate these conclusions.

Keywords

Chikungunya vaccine / Safety / Meta-analysis / Systematic review / Randomized controlled trials

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