THE VACCINE-ADVERSE-EVENT-REPORTING-SYSTEM (VAERS)

Immunizations against most vaccine-preventable diseases will be needed indefinitely unless the disease is eradicated. Public acceptance of i mmunizations may be threatened as vaccine coverage increases and disea se decreases, however, due to the increase in both causally and coinci dentally related vaccine adverse events. The post-marketing surveillan ce for such events in the USA in response to the mandatory reporting r equirements of the National Childhood Injury Act of 1986. While VAERS has many methodological limitations intrinsic to such systems, it can play an important role in helping to monitor vaccine safety and mainta in public confidence in immunizations.