Vaccine lexicon

Standard vaccinations

• Tetanus (lockjaw)

  Painful, cramp-like muscle stiffness, starting in the jaw ("lockjaw") and neck. Paralysis of the respiratory muscles. Lethality up to 20 % e…

• Diphtheria

  Severe throat inflammation with grey-white coatings, neck swelling ("bull neck"), shortness of breath. Toxin-induced myocarditis. Untreated …

• Pertussis (whooping cough)

  Weeks of coughing fits with the typical "whooping" inspiration, apnoea in infants. Complications: pneumonia, seizures.

• Poliomyelitis (polio)

  In < 1 % of infections, flaccid paralysis of legs, more rarely respiratory muscles. Lifelong disability possible.

• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

  Mainly in infants: meningitis, severe epiglottitis with risk of suffocation, sepsis.

• Hepatitis B

  Acute jaundice. 5–10 % of adults, up to 90 % of infants develop chronic infection with risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

• Pneumococcus

  Pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis, otitis media. Seniors and immunocompromised individuals are at greatest risk.

• Rotavirus

  Severe watery diarrhoea, vomiting, fever. Most common cause of hospitalisation due to dehydration in infants.

• Measles

  High fever, cough, runny nose, characteristic rash. Complications: otitis, pneumonia, feared: encephalitis (1:1,000) and SSPE (delayed seque…

• Mumps

  Painful swelling of the parotid glands, fever. Complications: orchitis with infertility, hearing loss, meningitis.

• Rubella

  In children, mild spotted rash, fever, swollen lymph nodes. Dangerous in pregnancy: severe foetal malformations (rubella embryopathy: deafne…

• Varicella (chickenpox)

  Itchy, spotted and vesicular rash, fever. Complications: bacterial superinfection, pneumonia. Pregnant women: embryopathy. The virus remains…

• Meningococcus C

  Rapidly progressing meningitis with high fever, stiff neck, skin haemorrhages. Lethality 5–10 % even with treatment.

• Meningococcus B

  Like meningococcus C — severe meningitis and sepsis. Most common form in Europe.

• HPV (human papillomavirus)

  Cervical cancer, mouth/throat cancer, penile, anal cancer. Also genital warts.

• Herpes zoster (shingles)

  Painful, unilateral skin rash with blisters along a nerve. Feared: postherpetic neuralgia — nerve pain lasting months to years.

• Influenza (flu)

  Sudden onset with high fever, body aches, dry cough. Seniors and patients at risk: pneumonia, increased risk of heart attack.

• RSV (respiratory syncytial virus)

  In infants severe bronchiolitis and pneumonia. In seniors: flu-like courses with pneumonia, often hospitalisation.

Indication vaccinations

• Hepatitis A

  Jaundice with nausea, fatigue, upper abdominal pain. Course typically 4–6 weeks, rarely fulminant. No chronicity.

• TBE (tick-borne encephalitis)

  After 1–2 weeks flu-like symptoms; in about 30 % of cases a second phase with meningitis and paralysis. Sequelae possible.

• Mpox (monkeypox)

  Fever, lymph-node swelling, vesicular rash (preferentially anogenital). Usually self-limiting, severe courses in the immunocompromised.

• Tuberculosis

  Chronic pneumonia with bloody cough, weight loss, night sweats. Multidrug-resistant strains rising globally.

Travel vaccinations

• Rabies

  Once symptomatic, invariably fatal. Swallowing spasms, hydrophobia, paralysis.

• Typhoid fever

  Persistent high fever, abdominal pain, relative bradycardia, "rose spots" rash. Complications: intestinal perforation, sepsis.

• Cholera

  Massive watery diarrhoea ("rice-water stools"), rapid dehydration. Fatal without therapy.

• Yellow fever

  Acute fever, vomiting, jaundice, bleeding, renal failure. Lethality in severe courses 20–50 %.

• Japanese encephalitis

  In < 1 % of infections, severe encephalitis with 20–30 % lethality; lasting neurological deficits common.

• Dengue

  High fever, headaches and body aches ("breakbone fever"), rash. Severe course with second infection by another serotype: shock, bleeding.

• Chikungunya

  High fever, severe joint pain (often persisting for months), rash.

COVID-19

• COVID-19

  Respiratory infection with fever, cough, loss of smell. Complications: severe pneumonia, long COVID. Risk factors: age, obesity, chronic con…