Anaphylactic shock from childhood vaccinations ‘extremely rare’

A serious allergic reaction to childhood vaccinations is  “extremely rare” says new research published today.

A sudden allergic reaction that is serious enough to be potentially fatal is known as anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock.

The reaction can be triggered by different things such as food allergy including peanuts, stings, bites and certain medicines or vaccines.

This kind of side effect to new drug treatment is difficult to monitor during clinical trials because it so rarely happens.

Drug manufacturers have to rely on reports back to them about anaphylaxis once the product is already on the market.

Researcher have now looked into the number of UK children under the age of 16 who were suspected of having experienced anaphylaxis after being vaccinated between 2008 and 2009.

During this period of time, a total of 15 cases were reported.

This included the single measles jab; the HPV jab which is used to protect against cervical cancer; two types of vaccine for meningitis; a hepatitis A vaccine; typhoid vaccine; and a school leaver’s booster jab.

Of these 15 cases, seven  resulted in anaphylaxis, six needed an injection of adrenaline with all making a full recovery.

Three of the children who suffered a reaction were already carrying an injectable adrenaline

None of the vaccines reported were from the infant immunisation schedule or the triple MMR jab.

The research was published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The final statistics showed that there were 12 cases of anaphylaxis for every 100,000 doses and specifically 1.4 cases per million doses of the HPV.