Meningococcal conjugate vaccine safety surveillance in the Vaccine Safety Datalink using a tree-temporal scan data mining method

The objective of our study was to conduct a data mining analysis to identify potential adverse events (AEs) following MENACWY-D using the tree-temporal scan statistic in the Vaccine Safety Datalink population and demonstrate the feasibility of this method in a large distributed safety data setting. Traditional pharmacovigilance techniques used in vaccine safety are generally geared to detecting AEs based on pre-defined sets of conditions or diagnoses. Using a newly developed tree-temporal scan statistic data mining method, we performed a pilot study to evaluate the safety profile of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine Menactra® (MenACWY-D), screening thousands of potential AE diagnoses and diagnosis groupings. The study cohort included enrolled participants in the Vaccine Safety Datalink aged 11 to 18 years who had received MenACWY-D vaccination(s) between 2005 and 2014. The tree-temporal scan statistic was employed to identify statistical associations (signals) of AEs following MENACWY-D at a 0.05 level of significance, adjusted for multiple testing. We detected signals for 2 groups of outcomes: diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, fever, and urticaria. Both groups are known AEs following MENACWY-D vaccination. We also identified a statistical signal for pleurisy, but further examination suggested it was likely a false signal. No new MENACWY-D safety concerns were raised. As a pilot study, we demonstrated that the tree-temporal scan statistic data mining method can be successfully applied to screen broadly for a wide range of vaccine-AE associations within a large health care data network.

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