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Safety of Influenza Vaccine in Egg- Allergic Patients

Friday, 20 May 2011 11:01 Dr. Sunita Khatri Pediatrics
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Influenza is a highly infectious disease caused by RNA virus belonging to the Orthomyxoviridiae family. It leads to fever, chills, sore throat, body ache, fatigue and a feeling of discomfort. The symptoms may be severe enough to cause absenteeism from school/ work place and loss of man- days. Influenza spreads as seasonal pandemics and results in the death of about 250,000 to 500,000 persons every year. Keeping in mind its highly infectious nature and its potential to result in high morbidity and mortality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommends yearly vaccination to certain groups of people who are at a higher risk of being infected. 

However, people suffering from egg- allergy are often wary of taking the vaccination. Till recently, patients requiring an influenza vaccination had to undergo a skin test prior to the vaccination to test their sensitivity. But now, a retrospective chart review study published in the journal Pediatrics recommends that patients having egg-allergy without anaphylaxis can receive the influenza vaccine safely in a 2-dose graded fashion bypassing the skin test.

Dr. Erica Y. Chung, MD, from Children's Hospital Boston in Boston, Massachusetts, along with her colleagues studied the charts of patients between the ages of 6 months and 18 years who were allergic to egg and had received a 2-dose graded influenza vaccine with or without skin test. The patients received skin test before 2006-2007. After that, the skin test was removed from the hospital’s protocol. Out of 261 patients allergic to egg, 171 received vaccination. Out of them, 56 patients underwent a skin test prior to vaccination and 95% of them tolerated the vaccine well. After the removal of skin test, 115 patients received vaccination, out of which 97% tolerated the vaccine well. Thus, it is obvious from the results that the rate of tolerating influenza vaccine remained unchanged after the removal of skin test. It was, therefore concluded that patients having an allergy to egg can safely undergo influenza vaccination in a 2-doe graded fashion without undergoing a prior skin test. Larger studies involving many hospitals will further validate the findings of this study.
 
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Last Updated on Friday, 20 May 2011 13:55