Motor palsies of cranial nerves (excluding VII) after vaccination

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of cranial nerve palsy cases

	Single vaccine	Multiple vaccines	Total
	n = 43	n = 25	n = 68
Age (years)
<2	3	10	13
2–17	12	10	22
18–64	17	4	21
≥65	10	1	11
Unknown	1	0	1
Sex
Female	22	13	35
Male	20	12	32
Unknown	1	0	1
Serious^15	24	16	40
Non-serious	19	9	28
Onset* of cranial nerve palsy (days)
n	40	25	65
Median	9	10	9
Range	0.3–3285	0.23–474	0.23–3285

*For 3 reports, onset information was not provided.

Table 2. Cranial nerve palsies (other than VII) reported to VAERS

Cranial nerve*	Isolated cranial nerve palsy	Cranial nerve palsy as component of broader clinical entity	Total
III Oculomotor	13	9	22
IV Trochlear	6	3	9
VI Abducens	27	5	32
IX Glossopharyngeal	0	2	2
X Vagus	1	1	2
XII Hypoglossal	0	2	2
Not Specified**	2	1	3

*There were three reports of multiple cranial nerve palsies: nerves IX + X + XII (1 report), nerves III + IV (1 report), and nerves III + VI (1 report). **Reported as “cranial nerve paralysis” without further details.

Table 3. Vaccines most commonly listed on reports of cranial nerve palsies

Vaccines^1	Reports
Influenza vaccine, seasonal trivalent inactivated	14
Hemophilus influenzae type b vaccine	8
Human papillomavirus vaccine quadrivalent	7
Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine live	7
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 7-valent	7
Diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine	6
Hepatitis A vaccine	6
Hepatitis B vaccine	6
Influenza vaccine, H1N1 inactivated	6
Diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis, Hemophilus influenzae type b, and inactivated poliovirus vaccine	5
Poliovirus vaccine inactivated	5
Zoster vaccine live	5
Varicella vaccine live	4
Influenza vaccine, seasonal trivalent live intranasal	3
Meningococcal (A, C, Y and W-135) conjugate vaccine	3
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 13-valent	3
Tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine	3
Other	20

¹Vaccines are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, the sum of the counts exceeds the total number of reports.

Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR 600.80. US Government Printing Office, 2001.

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