So I should start of by saying this is a little different than my usual, but also applicable to my life re: food allergies. As the title should suggest to you, I'm diving into talking about vaccines.
They're a hot topic right now. THEY DO NOT CAUSE AUTISM. I just want to get that out there. Apparently not everyone was informed that the man who made that statement falsified his data and admitted it in the last few years. Jenny McCarthy can say what she wants about the light going out of her child's eyes the day he received a vaccine, but it's not true. We don't know what causes autism and I fully support efforts to figure it out and prevent this massive epidemic, but it's not vaccines.
People should be vaccinating their kids, no question in my mind. I personally have received almost every vaccination one can think of (which I know because I'm looking into getting the vaccines to travel to Africa, and those are about the only ones I haven't gotten; I haven't been vaccinated against smallpox either but I think I'm okay on that front) and have thus taken my chances. I got the Gardasil vaccine before it was even known if my insurance company would cover it (they did).
I was looking into vaccines this week for the doctor with whom I am currently working. He's the public health official for this county and to get an exemption for vaccines, you have to apply to him. He and I are on the same boat with this: vaccinations save people. The resurgence of pertussis/whooping cough is evidence that people need to vaccinate their kids. The issue at stake here, which I'm not sure how many people are aware of this side of the coin, is a hypogammaglobulinemic kid who is petitioning for vaccine exemptions. Now, I don't think he's going to get one, but it raises an interesting perspective. An extreme case of hypogammaglobulinemia is the idea of the "bubble boy," the kids who don't have an immune system and are at risk for any virus or bacterium coming their way. He can actually receive vaccines, but it's unknown of how well he will respond to some of them (whether or not his immune system is strong enough to respond and thus make him immune to whatever disease). There are some interesting topics involved in this but it's the other side of the coin, like I said: if you don't immunize your "normal" kid and send them to elementary school, are you putting the leukemic/immunocompromised kid in the same room at risk for more infections?
So the reason this is all coming up for me is that the flu vaccine is raised in chicken eggs. I am most definitely allergic to egg proteins. This year, however, the CDC has announced that unless you have had an anaphylactic reaction to the flu vaccine itself (which does happen), you can get the vaccine. I have always gotten the flu vaccine because of being in health care/living in dorms/etc, and I've always felt terrible for a few days after getting it. It now makes complete sense. I always thought I was reacting strongly to the flu virus in it, but it's really the egg to which I react.
If you are even anaphylactic to eggs, you can get the vaccine, but you should get it in a safe environment where you can be watched appropriately for reactions.
Interestingly, some vaccine preparations also contain latex. So some people have to watch out for that. (ahem...I also happen to allergic to latex. It's a lovely world, isn't it?) Usually people just have to watch for the latex in the rubber stoppers, and I haven't looked into which lab/prep it might be that has the latex in it, but my mom was telling me last year at work that was the new question they were asking people.
Either way, getting the flu vaccine is better than getting the flu. So go get your vaccines!
PS--you may ask, are their other vaccines which contain things to which I am allergic? Why, yes, indeed there are. The hepatitis B vaccine contains yeast. Good thing I got that over ten years ago and have titers proving my immunity. I am good to go for the future.
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