Allergy to the Pertussis Vaccination

mrsweeber

In conversation with our parents this weekend, both my Husband and I were informed that we are allergic to the Pertussis vaccine. Husband was lathargic after receiving it and had a fever, I was actually hospitalized due to reaction. Mind you, this was 20+ years ago.  After calling both of the peds offices that we were patients of as children, I confirmed that the allergies were true and have informed my OB of this (luckily this came up in conversation before my scheduled vaccination next week!) It was decided that I would not be vaccinated because of an already lowered pregnancy immune system and strong reaction as a child. My husband has been given the option of trying it out, if he wants to.

Has anyone been in this situation regarding vaccinations before. My gut is telling me that we shouldn't "test and see" how he reacts as an adult-sometimes reactions are MUCH worse when you are older. But, I feel guilty that neither of us would be vaccinated against such a scary condition.

The doctor that I spoke to in the pediatrician's office also recommended that our LO wait until later in life to try the vaccination in case the allergy is something that is genetic.

Thoughts?

mrsnala

My mom informed me that I was allergic to the vaccine as a child as well, and I told my OB this and they said just let them know in the hospital as they will try to give me the shot after I give birth. I plan to just not get the shot. But DH is not allergic and has already had the booster.

mben1119

They changed the vaccine drastically since we were children. I was allergic to it as a child as well, and got my Tdap last month with only a sore arm to show for it. I also didn't hesitate to have DS get his Dtap, and he's had no reactions to the vaccines so far.

sbevmc09

The vax on the market now is different because the old one was known to cause reactions.  With that said, you don't know what cause the reaction in the old vax for you personally so I would look into it further before signing up to get another even if it's a little different vax. 

Also, it doesn't sound like your husband had an atypical reaction.  Lethargy and fever are common side effects of any vax.  His past experience is something I would certainly take into consideration, but especially considering the vax has changed if he does want to get vaxed I don't think I would avoid it based on his past experience.  JMO.  

brachysira

It sounds like pps have given some good advice, and I agree that DH could try it, and that you should check into it more for yourself and baby and get a plan for when it will be safe.  If you don't vaccinate on schedule, you'll want to check with your doctor and other resources about the disease statistics in your area, ways to avoid contracting, etc.  Avoiding daycare and other public scenarios might be necessary until the vac.  If everyone who could would just do it, you wouldn't have to worry...sigh.

Rynleigh

Ditto to the PPs posts - the DTaP & Tdap vaccines manufactured now are different from the ones done in the 90s. If you're just now finding out but you've had a tetanus booster in the last ten years, you probably already had the Tdap and had little or no reaction - you and DH should both check your high school + vax records to see if either of you have received any doses of DTaP (<15yrs old) or Tdap (16yrs old +). The newer vaccines are acellular. You may want to approach it with your doctor, but they may also still say "Don't risk it" if your childhood reaction was severe enough to land you in the hospital. 

If your practioners advise you against getting the boosters, you and your family may need to rely on herd immunity - which means making it very clear to friends and family that no one should visit if anyone in their home has any cold or flu like symptoms, and encouraging all of them to keep their own vaccinations up to date. 

drpayne

Well first of all, lethargy and fever =/= allergic reaction...that just sounds odd to me that they would label it that way.  Your situation sounds like it was a little different, though.  Ditto PPs - the vaccines have changed a lot.  Definitely talk to your doc.

Rynleigh

drpayne:

Well first of all, lethargy and fever =

Normal vaccine reaction to any vaccine  

mrsweeber

Thank you for all of the thought provoking feedback. I will most definitely continue to do my homework on the issue. I think DH should definitely get the vaccine as I agree, his reaction was more typical than atypical. I haven't had a tetnus booster-mostly because everytime they offered it I pushed it off until the next time that they offered it. Whoops So, I don't know if the problem would continue to persist with me. I will ask my doctor to check around the clinic I go to, to get a general consensus on the safety of a second attempt at the vaccine as I completely agree that things have changed a lot, especially in the last couple of years!

drpayne

Rynleigh:

drpayne:

Well first of all, lethargy and fever =

Normal vaccine reaction to any vaccine  

 

That's what I was thinking... but then I reread and said she even called the pedi and confirmed it.  Just sounds strange.

mrsweeber

drpayne:

Rynleigh:

drpayne:

Well first of all, lethargy and fever =

Normal vaccine reaction to any vaccine  

 

That's what I was thinking... but then I reread and said she even called the pedi and confirmed it.  Just sounds strange.

 

I'll note, they only confirmed what was written in the file that they classified it as an allergic reaction vs. providing a professional opinion on the matter. It's been a long time since we've been peds patients, so I am sure things have changed a lot!

Rynleigh

mrsweeber:

I'll note, they only confirmed what was written in the file that they classified it as an allergic reaction vs. providing a professional opinion on the matter. It's been a long time since we've been peds patients, so I am sure things have changed a lot!

That's what I figured. It would be odd enough for the doctor to still have been working there, let alone remember an individual case.

Allergies can only be confirmed via blood or skin tests, which they generally don't put children through unless there is some unknown allergy.... and fever/lethargy are very rare allergic reaction symptoms.. it sounds like an overgeneralized file note, to me.... i.e. child had negative reaction, don't want to risk reaction in the future, label as allergy to prevent future doses. My oldest daughter was diagnosed by a pediatrician with a penicillin-family allergy, even though the "rash" he diagnosed based off of was a classic amoxicillin rash that is a *known* side effect of taking amoxicillin in nearly 10% of children and has no relation to allergy at all... he refused to give a referral for us to have the actual allergy test done on her blood to see if we *actually* needed to eliminate all penicillin from future treatment options, so we ended up switching pedis. Turns out, no amoxicillin (or other penicillin) allergy. 

If either of you have had vaccines since high school, just check your records for any of the Pertussis vaccines developed in more recent years. Just confirming that you've had a single dose of Tdap in the last decade would be sufficient reason not to worry about future boosters or scheduling your children's vaccines.  

light52

Is this the only vaccine you've had a reaction too?  I received the Dtap last year and had a reaction.  They thought it was the pertussis and said not to do that one again.  A month later I had the same reaction to the flu shot.  We then decided it wasn't the pertussis but rather the preservatives.  Now, when I receive any vaccine it has to be preservative free. 

Also, my husband goes to an allergist and the doc said that allergies change every 5-10 years.  You may have outgrown it by now but I would still wait for both you and the child.

mrsweeber

No problems with the flu shot or the HPV vaccine (other than sore arms, of course!)

sararn2004

sbevmc09:

The vax on the market now is different because the old one was known to cause reactions.  With that said, you don't know what cause the reaction in the old vax for you personally so I would look into it further before signing up to get another even if it's a little different vax. 

Also, it doesn't sound like your husband had an atypical reaction.  Lethargy and fever are common side effects of any vax.  His past experience is something I would certainly take into consideration, but especially considering the vax has changed if he does want to get vaxed I don't think I would avoid it based on his past experience.  JMO.  

This was my exact thought. His sounds like an intolerance, rather than a true allergy. Some intolerances are too intolerable to deal with and people choose not to get them anyway. But like she said, the vaccines have changed since then,his intolerance may have been to an ingredient that has been removed or changed.