s/o Are Vaccines safe for those with food allergies?

[coffeefreak]

We are still in the process of narrowing down my dd's food allergy. We are pretty sure she's allergic to soy, wheat is being investigated, but we think that's a false positive because of the soy. We know she's allergic to oranges and watermelons so they're doing some cross pollination tests and looking into other fruits. She's missing 3 shots. I know one is Polio, but I don't remember what the other two are. If her little system is going through all the allergy problems, is it really a good idea to give her the shots right now? Maybe I should wait until winter when we've taken whatever it is out of her diet and the seasonal allergies are gone? What have you done?

 

Thanks!

Dorinda

[Orthodox6]

(oops. wrong thread)

[Dana]

I'd ask her allergist.

 

Our son has dairy and tree nut allergies.

Since he isn't allergic to egg, he gets all immunizations. We also get the flu shot every year. When ds had his allergic reaction to tree nuts and was hospitalized, they sent him unsafe food to eat while in the hospital. I want to do everything to keep him out of the hospital. I'm even intending to get the swine flu shot as quickly as we can.

 

I'd definitely check with the allergist about safety.

[Heather in OK]

Ask and also read the ingredients of each vaccine.

 

I will say that I have a friend who's children have food allergies. Before she stopped vax'ing one of her dc had a severe vaccine reaction. Severe.

 

Once they have a reaction to it, if you do other vax's the reactions can get much worse.

[gingersmom]

I would talk with your allergist/pediatrican but I would lean towards waiting till things have settled down with her allergies and you have a better handle on them.

 

My daughter who has no food allergies has had reactions to vaccines (incredibly sore arm for days, she can barely move it and it swells up).

 

I now spread out her vaccines as far apart as possible.

[OHGrandma]

I'm a proponent of vaccinations, for people and animals. But what I've learned about vaccinating animals is if they are sick or stressed the vaccine quite often does not trigger a full response, leaving the animal unprotected.

I'd talk to the doctors, but I'd probably wait to vaccinate until the allergies are sorted out.

[mom2jjka]

It depends on what she's allergic to. (Eggs?)

Some vaccines are cultured on eggs (or contain them as an ingredient) so I would definitely ask your Dr. about the safety of those.

[abbeyej]

It's not something with a very clear answer. Do read the ingredients, but given the allergies that you listed, I don't think it's likely that there'll be a particular problem with one of them. (Eggs does seem to be the main allergen that causes issues with vaccinations.)

 

That said, allergies are an immune system response, and multiple allergies especially signal that the immune system is a bit haywire. An assault on that immune system (whether through a virus *or* a vaccine) can trigger more problems.

 

For us, I put all vaccines on hold for ds when I first realized what was going on and that he had multiple food allergies. To this day, I think vaccines may have been the catalyst that triggered his many allergies in the first place. (If it hadn't been the vaccines, it might have been something else -- I certainly accept that there was something genetic there waiting to be triggered...) I also waited with dd, deciding I'd rather vaccinate her when she was a little older and had a more developed, stable immune system than as a toddler. Now that ds' allergies have largely settled down (he has outgrown some of the lesser ones, and others are there but seem well-controlled) and dd is older, we'll likely be catching up on the important ones in the next few years.

 

So *personally*, I'd wait -- whether a few months, or a couple of years -- till you have a better idea what's going on with your dd before completing most of her shots. You can talk to your doctor about what that will do to the schedule... Some vaccines will require an additional dose if you wait, others may even require a different shot instead, depending on age, etc.

 

*But* most doctors will tell you that the vaccines are perfectly safe, and that wheat, soy and melon allergies should pose no problems. And it's true that most kids (even those with allergies) have no long-term negative effects from vaccines.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I also suspect that all of the vaccines have something to do with my ds food allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, and possible egg, shellfish, and mango. My ds allergist did not disagree with me. To clarify, I think it may have been the enormous amount of vaccines that is now given to children in the first several years of life that may have been a factor in my ds 's allergies and not any particular vaccine.

 

However, I also believe it is important to get the critical vaccines like polio, measles, mumps, etc. I did decide to hold off until he is older at his last visit this year on a second chicken pox shot since I do not feel it is critical. I will probably let him have it when he is a little older though. He did have flu shot when he was much younger, but we have held off since he had a possible reaction to eggs. In retrospect, I would have considered a slowed down version of the vaccine schedule as recommended by Dr. Sears. I also would have waited till he was a teenager for the hepatitis B vaccine since this is a blood-borne disease that is usually, not always, sexually transmitted and it does not always work. I know since I have had the series twice and it did not stick.:glare: I also stumbled across a research article that said that there may be an association between the hepatitis B vaccine and peanut allergies.:001_huh: Of course, I am not a doctor and only a nurse and there may be other research articles showing otherwise though. I also still think that the hepatitis B vaccine is a great vaccine, but I just question if it is necessary to give it to infants since most would not be at high risk in my humble opinion. I would discuss with your doctor.

 

I would definately see a allergist to have skin testing and the RAST blood work. I think that you doctor should be able to help you decide on which vaccines are critical as well if that is the direction you are thinking of..

Edited July 24, 2009 by priscilla
clarify

[coffeefreak]

Thanks everyone! She already had the skin tests done and the RAST was done today. We'll get the results of the RAST back in a week or two and then decide on the next step. So far, if the RAST comes back negative for soy, our allergist will probably tell us to do an elimination diet. I doubt it will come back negative. The allergist we're seeing is being VERY thorough and cross testing everything that cross pollinates with soy and wheat. She had no skin reaction to eggs or milk, but she's lactose intolerant so the Dr wants to double check that with the RAST. My husband and I were talking about it today and, we'll probably wait until all the testing is done and we have the results of what needs to be eliminated from her diet. After that, I think I'll give it 6 months and vaccinate her then. Even though she's not allergic to eggs, I just feel like her little body is always fighting. We're in agreement with her Dr that, once we eliminate what she's allergic to, her seasonal allergies will get better and her immune system will get better. Hopefully, by the winter this will all be better.

 

Thanks for your help!

Dorinda

[TeacherZee]

I'm going to preface this with saying that I am very pro-vac but I would wait until things settle for him. I can no longer get vaccinated because I have developed an allergy to eggs. Bad reaction to a flu jab confirmed that. :glare: Talk to you doctors and see what they say.

[TracyR]

My daughter is allergic to milk , soy , wheat ,eggs, peanuts and has an allergy to Septra and latex.

 

With that said she isn't able to get certain vaccines and the flu shot is one of them. You need to ask your pediatrician which vaccines have this. My daughter was given some by accident and didn't seem to have a reaction to them. But amazingly enough if you give her egg to eat or if she comes in contact with it she breaks out in hives terribly. Once her eyes almost swelled shut. But for some strange reason she didnt' have a reaction to the vaccince she was accidently given. Go figure.

 

If your daughter isn't allergic to egg then I don't think there is any that would 'harm' her. I know egg was the only thing my ped was concerned about when it came to vaccines.

[KidsHappen]

I'd ask her allergist.

 

Our son has dairy and tree nut allergies.

Since he isn't allergic to egg, he gets all immunizations. We also get the flu shot every year. When ds had his allergic reaction to tree nuts and was hospitalized, they sent him unsafe food to eat while in the hospital. I want to do everything to keep him out of the hospital.

 

 

I had a friend that was allergic to peanuts and they gave her a medication that had peanut oil in it. She had severa anaphylactic shock from it. :glare:

[momtotkbb]

My little guy has severe allergies and asthma ---they have actually told us they can't determine everything he is allergic too bec he reacts or over reacts so greatly to innert ingredients. He is not allergic to eggs --he eats them without any problems and didn't test positive for them. But, he had a severe allergic reaction to the flu vaccine. After that the allergist/pulmonary specialist and Ped all agreed no flu vaccine - no vaccines that weren't absolutely essential ---and that if it was MMR, polio, things like that we would no give any vaccines together and would space them out at least 6 months. When we did his 4 yo old vaccines he got 1 at 4 - 1 at 4.5 and 1 at 5 and they gave him a dose of beneadryl and ora-pred before the vaccines just as a precaution.

[skaterbabs]

Some vaccines are cultivated in eggs (or other substances) so you'll need to be cautious. I highly recommend Dr Stephanie Cave's book on vaccinations.