Influenza vaccination

 

IMPORTANT The information provided is of a general nature and should not be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you think you may suffer from an allergic or other disease that requires attention, you should discuss it with your family doctor. The content of the information articles and all illustrations on this website remains the intellectual property of Dr Raymond Mullins and cannot be reproduced without written permission.

Get the Flu shot in 2020! All Australians are being urged to have the Influenza vaccination this year. The influenza vaccine will not, however, prevent Covid-19 infection.


Notification and hospitalisation rates related to influenza infection are highest in children aged 0-5 years (the age group most affected by egg allergy) and in adults aged 70+ years www.health.gov.au/flureport.


It is important to be aware that being allergic to egg does NOT increase the risk of having an allergic reaction to the influenza vaccine and is NOT a reason to avoid the influenza vaccination. The risk of a significant allergic reaction to the vaccine is estimated as 1 case per 1.35 million doses. By contrast, there is a real risk from having influenza.


In 2007 there were 2,623 deaths with influenza and pneumonia as the underlying cause of death in Australia. In 2007, influenza and pneumonia was the 13th leading cause of death in Australia (2). Laboratory confirmed influenza resulted in 3 deaths in otherwise healthy preschool children in Western Australia in 2007. In other words, get vaccinated!


The influenza vaccine is a dead vaccine, so it is not possible to get the flu from the flu vaccine. But having the flu vaccine does not stop you getting other infections, of which there are many.


Want more information? Have a look at the ASCIA 2017 extensive literature review and guidelines. https://www.allergy.org.au/hp/papers/vaccination-of-the-egg-allergic-individual and the 2019 updated recommendations https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/food-allergy/egg-allergy-flu-vaccine 


References

1: Kelso JM. Administering influenza vaccine to egg-allergic persons. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2014 Aug;13(8):1049-57. doi: 10.1586/14760584.2014.933079.


2: Flu vaccine and egg allergy. Arch Dis Child. 2015 Dec;100(12):1162. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2015-309894.


3: Greenhawt M, Turner PJ, Kelso JM. Administration of influenza vaccines to egg allergic recipients: A practice parameter update 2017. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2018 Jan;120(1):49-52. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2017.10.020.


4: COMMITTEE ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES. Recommendations for Prevention and Control of Influenza in Children, 2018-2019. Pediatrics. 2018 Oct;142(4):e20182367. doi: 10.1542/peds.2018-2367.


5: Kelso JM. Influenza vaccine and egg allergy: nearing the end of an evidence- based journey. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2015 Jan-Feb;3(1):140-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2014.08.011.


6: Grohskopf LA, Sokolow LZ, Broder KR, Walter EB, Fry AM, Jernigan DB. Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices-United States, 2018-19 Influenza Season. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2018 Aug 24;67(3):1-20. doi:

10.15585/mmwr.rr6703a1.


7: COMMITTEE ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES. Recommendations for Prevention and Control of Influenza in Children, 2019-2020. Pediatrics. 2019 Oct;144(4):e20192478. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-2478.


8: Grohskopf LA, Alyanak E, Broder KR, Walter EB, Fry AM, Jernigan DB. Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices - United States, 2019-20 Influenza Season. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2019 Aug 23;68(3):1-21. doi:

10.15585/mmwr.rr6803a1. PMID: 31441906; PMCID: PMC6713402.


9: Gagnon R, Primeau MN, Des Roches A, Lemire C, Kagan R, Carr S, Ouakki M, Benoît M, De Serres G; PHAC-CIHR Influenza Research Network. Safe vaccination of patients with egg allergy with an adjuvanted pandemic H1N1 vaccine. J Allergy

Clin Immunol. 2010 Aug;126(2):317-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2010.05.037.


10: Mullins RJ, Gold MS. Influenza vaccination of the egg-allergic individual: 2012 update. Med J Aust. 2012 Jun 18;196(11):682. doi: 10.5694/mja12.10659.


11: Christiansen CF, Thomsen RW, Schmidt M, Pedersen L, Sørensen HT. Influenza vaccination and 1-year risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, pneumonia, and mortality among intensive care unit survivors aged 65 years or older: a nationwide population-based cohort study. Intensive Care Med. 2019 Jul;45(7):957-967. doi: 10.1007/s00134-019-05648-4.


12: Dharmarajan K, Hsieh AF, Lin Z, Bueno H, Ross JS, Horwitz LI, Barreto-Filho JA, Kim N, Bernheim SM, Suter LG, Drye EE, Krumholz HM. Diagnoses and timing of 30-day readmissions after hospitalization for heart failure, acute myocardiali nfarction, or pneumonia. JAMA. 2013 Jan 23;309(4):355-63. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.216476.


13: Downing NS, Wang C, Gupta A, Wang Y, Nuti SV, Ross JS, Bernheim SM, Lin Z, Normand ST, Krumholz HM. Association of Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities With Outcomes Among Patients Hospitalized With Acute Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, and Pneumonia: An Analysis of Within- and Between-Hospital Variation. JAMA Netw Open. 2018 Sep 7;1(5):e182044. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.2044.


14: Khera R, Dharmarajan K, Wang Y, Lin Z, Bernheim SM, Wang Y, Normand ST, Krumholz HM. Association of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program With Mortality During and After Hospitalization for Acute Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, and Pneumonia. JAMA Netw Open. 2018 Sep 7;1(5):e182777. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.2777.


Last reviewed 9 June 2020