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Flu Vaccine, Egg Allergies, Update

There's an important press release from the medical boards of Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) & Food Allergy Initiative (FAI) about egg allergies and flu vaccine:

"The yearly flu vaccines are recommended for all children over age 6 months. These vaccines contain a very small amount of egg protein, and this raises concerns about giving them to children with egg allergy. For many years, physicians and various medical societies and expert panels recommended avoidance of these vaccines in children with severe egg allergy. This thinking has been changing."

Read more at Food Allergy Initiative's (FAI) site.

As an asthmatic, who's non-egg allergic, I get the flu vaccine every year, without issue or allergic reaction. Talk to your medical provider about what is best for you and your family.
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Katrina said…
Really interesting. My son has an egg allergy, but tolerated the vaccine when he got it before his diagnosis. For a few years they wouldn't give him the flu vaccine. This year they did the split dose. It was great to be able to have him get the vaccine but the process was really tough on him. They would administer the first part, wait and observe him for an hour, and then give the 2nd and observe him again. This had to be done for the seasonal and the H1N1 and H1N1 booster. That's a lot to put a kid through. He was never upset about shots before and now he talks about them incessantly.
2:36 PM, July 21, 2010
Anonymous said…
I have anaphylaxis to egg. Even though I work in a high risk environment, the risk of anaphylaxis is much scarier and more immediate than the risk of flu, so I sign an allergy waiver and decline the flu vaccine every year. "May be safe for most" is not enough to make me try something that is life threatening again. I learned my lesson the hard way when that same statement was made regarding soybean oil and lecithin.
4:35 PM, August 30, 2010
Unknown said…
Took my 3-year-old for his second try at this year's (2010) flu shot. He got a sizable welt on his arm and it was swollen and red. Once again we could not move forward. Just warning other mothers of kids with severe egg allergy to be careful this year. (He tolerated both H1N1 and the flu shot last year).
4:26 PM, November 01, 2010
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