[Safety and tolerability of monovalent measles and combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccines].

Although effective monovalent and combined measles vaccines have been available for several decades in Germany, measles outbreaks continue to occur leading to severe cases of measles and even death. Possible reasons for the low acceptance of the measles vaccination are concerns about adverse events and serious complications following vaccination. In this report, we have summarized and assessed all adverse events reported in Germany from 2001 to 2012 after vaccination with monovalent- and combined measles-containing vaccines. A total of 1,696 suspected adverse reaction reports describing 5,297 adverse events were sent to the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2012. The calculated mean reporting rate was 5.7 reports per 100,000 vaccine doses released by the PEI. Analysis of the reports indicates that measles-containing vaccines are well tolerated with a constantly low rate of adverse events reported. Compared to the high rate of serious complications following wild-type measles infection, the benefit of measles-containing vaccines clearly outweighs the anticipated risks of adverse events.