The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) has issued a statement about egg allergy and the flu vaccine after re-examining three studies. The conclusion?
We need more studies.
And thus a multi-center clinical trial is presently underway in the US.
Really? We still don't have enough information on this?????
Now, there is some good news. Many vaccine manufacturers are listing the amount of ovalbumin (egg) on their inserts. This means doctors can seek out low ovalbumin vaccine for their egg allergic patients.
The other finding is that most people with egg allergy do tolerate the vaccine. However, the numbers of severely egg allergic subjects in the study was low, and so it is with caution that researchers can recommend the flu vaccine to this sub-group.
So, it makes sense to explore this again this year. Talk to your allergist. Can they get low egg vaccine? What are the risks vs the benefits of the vaccine? What have they seen in their practice so far this flu vaccine season?
At this point we've done what we always do- the rest of the family gets the vaccine in the hopes of protecting the non-vaccinated egg allergic family member. We see the allergist in two weeks, though, and this is on my list...
...again...
Is it so hard to come up with a flu vaccine without growing it on chicken eggs? Sigh...
Some related posts for those of you dealing with this for the first time:
Flu Vaccine Recommendations and Egg Allergy
Flu Vaccine for Egg Allergic
Still Confused About Egg Allergy and Flu Shots?
Guidelines for H1N1Vaccine and Egg Allergy
Flu Shot Season
2 comments:
Last year my son endured a food challenge to miniscule quantities of egg yolk, then had 4 separate injections, since he was vaccinated against both the standard and H1N1 flus, and his allergist split the doses in half. Good news this years is that the H1N1 was combined with the other flu vaccine and he only had to be stuck once.
It doesn't make sense to me either, since individuals with asthma are in the very highest risk group, and they are more likely to have food allergies.
Libby -that is so right. I was so grateful to learn that our asthmatic child doesn't have an egg allergy like his brother and I do. He will be getting the flu shot this season.
A doctor told me that getting the shot once won't hurt. It's when you get it year after year after year. Why wouldn't I do it that way? Is every other year okay or something? It's weird.
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