Spectrum of Adverse Event Following COVID-19 Immunization in High Altitude, Nepal

  1. Minani Gurung
  2. Tashi Lama
  3. Bibek Rajbhandari
  4. Olita Shilpakar
  5. Ashmita Maharjan
  6. Sujita Nepal
  7. Dev Gajmer
  8. Kailash Lama
  9. Lisasha Poudel

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Abstract

Introduction

Nepal started vaccinating frontline workers against COVID-19, in January 2021.Side effects of the vaccine are still unknown in high altitude regions. Poor surveillance and the lack of health workers in remote places to take care of people in case of vaccination side-effects could prove to be a challenge in the drive, especially in high altitudes like Humla district, Nepal. High altitude regions are harder to access and also mobilization of vaccines and manpower is strenuous due to harsh weather conditions and complex geography. We aimed to study the spectrum of Adverse Event Following COVID-19 Immunization among the front liners of Humla district.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Humla district, Nepal. COVID-19 Immunization vaccine recipients were contacted through a phone call within 5 days of vaccination to record the adverse effects. Patterns and distribution of adverse effects were analyzed in high altitude settings. Ethical approval was taken from Nepal Health Research Council.

Results

Of total respondents, 84.1% (95% C.I: 80.9 to 86.9) had shown symptoms after vaccination. The average time for the appearance of symptoms was 1.27 +_ 0.60 days. For systemic effects, tenderness was the side effect seen after vaccination (63.8%) followed by other side effects like pain (58.5%), Pyrexia (37.4%), Chills (29.8%), Myalgia (28.9%) and Malaise (15.2%) while for localized effects, the symptoms such as Arthralgia (16.6%) and Bruising (16.1%) were the most common effects.

Conclusions

Serious and life threatening adverse effects following immunization were not seen in our study site which was of altitude 2500 meter and above. Our study shows a similar type of side effect pattern as that of the lower altitude regions.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2022.05.19.22275337: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsConsent: We obtained written permission from the District Administration Office in Humla and verbal consent from each participant prior to the interview.
    Sex as a biological variableSubjects with flu like symptoms, pregnant, lactating women, below 18 years were excluded.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Similarly, after collecting the data, we entered, coded and analyzed data in IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2022.05.19.22275337v1 on medRxiv