Immunogenicity and safety of the domestic and imported live-attenuated varicella vaccine in healthy Chinese population: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives This study aimed to synthesize the available evidence to compare the immunogenicity and safety of domestic and imported live-attenuated varicella vaccine (VarV) in healthy Chinese population. Methods PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), Wan Fang Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System (SinoMed) were searched using predefined search terms to identify relevant studies. The included articles reported varicella vaccine administration in healthy Chinese population. We calculated the pooled proportion of seroconversions and adverse events, and assessed the quality of each study using the modified Jadad Scale and Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS). Results The pooled seroconversion proportion of domestic Varv was 89% (95%CI: 86%-91%) and that of imported Varv was 93% (95%CI: 88%-98%). The difference was not statistically significant. The pooled proportion of systemic reactions for domestic Varv (11%, 95%CI: 10%-13%) was higher than that of imported Varv (8%, 95%CI: 6%-10%; χ² = 8.04, P < 0.001), but the results were opposite for local reactions (domestic Varv: 3%, 95%CI: 2%-3%; imported Varv: 7%, 95%CI: 3%-10%; χ² = 5.30, P = 0.020). Conclusions Both domestic and imported varicella vaccines are effective and safe in the Chinese population. More evidence on imported vaccines is needed in the future to supplement our findings.