PEDIATRICS Vol.
113 No. 1 January 2004, pp. 170-171
Gelatin Allergy
Tetsuo
Nakayama, MD
Takuji Kumagai, MD
Laboratory of Viral Infection Control Kitasato Institutes for Life Sciences
Tokyo 108-8641, Japan
Pediatric Allergy and Infectious Diseases Society of Sapporo Sapporo
004-0013, Japan
We feel relieved after reading the paper by Pool et al and the VAERS Team1 on the prevalence of gelatin allergy in the United States. They conducted a retrospective analysis after measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination. Among 26 cases of anaphylaxis, only 6 (27%) were positive for anti-gelatin IgE antibodies. The rate of anaphylactic reactions reported to the VAERS is 1.8 per 1 million doses, and no substantial increase in number of reported allergic events after MMR was observed since the introduction of gelatin-containing diptheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) in 1997. We reported that the cases of anaphylaxis or urticaria showed high positive rates of anti-gelatin IgE antibodies, and we speculated the causal relationship of the sensitization by gelatin-containing DTaP.2 Discontinuation of gelatin-containing DTaP reduced the incidence of anaphylaxis after 1999,3 and we have no report of anaphylaxis after vaccination with live virus vaccines containing hydrolyzed porcine gelatin in the last few years. Thus, we were solicitous for the incidence of anaphylaxis in the United States, but they reported that the incidence of gelatin allergy was lower than that observed in Japan.
But we suppose the different prevalence of anti-gelatin IgE depends on sensitivity for the detection of IgE antibodies against gelatin and especially on the nature of antigen for the assay. The same was the reason why the sensitization against gelatin increased in Japan. Some vaccine manufactures used poorly hydrolyzed bovine gelatin in DTaP, and some used hydrolyzed porcine gelatin. A large number of patients with anaphylaxis had a history of having DTaP containing poorly hydrolyzed bovine gelatin. Poorly hydrolyzed bovine gelatin was immunogenic when administered with alum adjuvant. They did not mention the nature of gelatin in DTaP in the United States in their paper, and we suppose that it was probably highly hydrolyzed porcine gelatin (2–3 kDa). Although it is considered as less immunogenic, gelatin-free DTaP is desirable to avoid the possibility of unnecessary sensitization against gelatin.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/113/1/170
What causes vaccine allergies?
Just as drugs and certain foods can cause allergies, any individual can be
allergic to a particular vaccine. In most cases,
the allergy is
caused
not by the killed or inactivated virus or bacterium but
by some other vaccine component
that is needed to stabilize or preserve the vaccine.
Allergic reactions vary
in severity. In their mildest form they may consist of itching and a
skin rash or hives.
Anaphylaxis or severe
hypersensitivity reaction causing swelling of the throat and
low blood pressure are
thankfully extremely rare and are treated by the administration of
epinephrine and other anti-allergy medication.
http://www.texaschildrens.org/carecenters/vaccine/Vaccines_SideEffects.aspx
The more typical route of
sensitization, however, is
via the absorption of aluminum
through
hyposensitization
injections and
vaccines.[5]
Hyposensitization injections are used as treatment for IgE-mediated
allergies, and the most commonly used extracts in these solutions are
aluminum-contacting antigens. Additionally, aluminum compounds have been
widely used as adjuvants in prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines to
potentiate the immune response. Aluminum-containing vaccines are prepared by
the adsorption of antigens onto aluminum hydroxide or aluminum phosphate
gels or by the precipitation of antigens in a solution of potassium aluminum
sulfate.[6]
...Cox and colleagues reported on an 18-month-old female child with
dermatitis, characterized by acute weeping vesiculation at the vaccination
site, that developed 6 months after she received diphtheria and tetanus
toxoids and pertussis (DTP) triple vaccine.[13] A patch-test result for
aluminum was positive despite no known exposures to aluminum-containing
products.
Dermatitis. 2005;16(3):115-120. ©2005 American Contact Dermatitis Society
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/516045_2
Closely related to the tuberculin reaction, is the host response to pure protein mixed with an adjuvant. This form of DTH was discovered in 1929 by Louis Dienes. He demonstrated that when ovalbumin, an egg white protein that is normally not immunogenic, is injected into a tuberculosis tubercule, the patient would become sensitized to the protein.[10] Later with the introduction of Freund's adjuvant, the reaction could be mimicked by mixing the protein with killed mycobacterium in oil.[11] When it was discovered that any pure protein mixed with adjuvant could induce an immune response, the DTH reaction was termed the Jones-Mote reaction since it was fundamentally different from the tuberculin reaction in one remarkable aspect.[12,13] ...
http://dermatology.cdlib.org/DOJvol5num1/reviews/black.html
Delayed vaccine reactions were also the cause of thyroid disease, allergies, arthritis, tumors and seizures in both cats and dogs.
Bernsen RM, Nagelkerke NJ, Thijs C, van der Wouden JC. Reported pertussis infection and risk of atopy in 8- to 12-yr-old vaccinated and non-vaccinated children. Department of General Practice, Erasmus MC - University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. roos.bernsen@uaeu.ac.ae Pertussis infection has been suspected to be a potential causal factor in the development of atopic disease because of the effect of pertussis immunization on specific IgE antibodies. Although several studies found a positive association between pertussis infection and atopic disorders, this relationship has not yet been studied in a population stratified by vaccination status. To assess the association between pertussis infection and atopic disorders in pertussis-unvaccinated children and in pertussis-vaccinated children. Using data from a previously conducted study on the relationship between the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-(inactivated) poliomyelitis vaccination in the first year of life and atopic disorders, the study population of 1872 8-12 yr old was divided into children pertussis-unvaccinated and children pertussis-vaccinated in the first year of life. Within each group, the association between pertussis infection and atopic disorders (both as reported by the parents) was assessed. In the unvaccinated group, there were no significant associations between pertussis infection and atopic disorders. In the vaccinated group, all associations between pertussis infection and atopic disorders were positive, the associations with asthma [odds ratio (OR) = 2.24, 95% confidence interval (CI(95%)): 1.36-3.70], hay fever (OR = 2.35, CI(95%): 1.46-3.77) and food allergy (OR = 2.68, CI(95%): 1.48-4.85) being significant. There was a positive association between pertussis infection and atopic disorders in the pertussis vaccinated group only. From the present study, it cannot be concluded whether this association is causal or due to reverse causation.
Aukrust L, et al. Severe hypersensitivity or intolerance reactions to measles vaccine in six children. Clinical and immunological studies. Allergy. 1980 Oct;35(7):581-7. PMID: 7468944; UI: 81131462.
Beck SA, et al. Egg hypersensitivity and measles-mumps-rubella vaccine administration. Pediatrics. 1991 Nov;88(5):913-7. PMID: 1945631; UI: 92051058.
Kelso JM, et al. Anaphylaxis from yellow fever vaccine. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999 Apr;103(4):698-701. PMID: 10200022; UI: 99216472.
Kelso JM, et al (1993) Anaphylaxis to measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine mediated by IgE to gelatin. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1993 Apr;91(4):867-72 Allergic reactions to measles, mumps, and bnrubella (MMR) vaccine are rare; some have been attributed to allergy to trace quantities of egg proteins. We report a 17-year-old female who had an anaphylactic reaction to MMR vaccine. A primary vaccination with MMR at age 15 months had been uneventful. She is not allergic to eggs; however, ear and throat pruritus and tongue swelling develop after she eats gelatin. MMR vaccine contains gelatin as a stabilizer. METHODS AND RESULTS: Prick skin tests were positive to 1:10 wt/vol dilutions of MMR vaccine and gelatin but negative to egg. By immunoassay, her serum IgE antibodies were elevated to both MMR vaccine and gelatin, but not to isolated MMR antigens. IgE binding to the gelatin carrier could be inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion by addition of not only MMR vaccine but also gelatin from a variety of animal sources. Immunoblotting confirmed the presence of IgE antibodies to multiple gelatin components as well as to MMR vaccine components. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the patient has an anaphylactic sensitivity to gelatin, and that her anaphylaxis to MMR vaccine was caused by the gelatin component. This sensitivity may explain other cases of MMR anaphylaxis.
Businco L. Measles, mumps, rubella immunization in egg-allergic children: a long-lasting debate. Ann Allergy. 1994 Jan;72(1):1-3. No abstract available.PMID: 8291742; UI: 94121309.
Christensen M, et al. [MMR-vaccination of children allergic to eggs]. Ugeskr Laeger. 1999 Mar 1;161(9):1270-2. Danish. PMID: 10083824; UI: 99183393.
Fasano MB, et al. Egg hypersensitivity and adverse reactions to measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. J Pediatr. 1992 Jun;120(6):878-81. PMID: 1593346; UI: 92277197.
Kelso JM. The gelatin story. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999 Feb;103(2 Pt 1):200-2. No abstract available.PMID: 9949308; UI: 99135984.
Nakayama T, et al. A clinical analysis of gelatin allergy and determination of its causal relationship to the previous administration of gelatin-containing acellular pertussis vaccine combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999 Feb;103(2 Pt 1):321-5. PMID: 9949325; UI: 99136001.
Rietschel RL, et al. Neomycin sensitivity and the MMR vaccine. JAMA. 1981 Feb 13;245(6):571. No abstract available.PMID: 7452881; UI: 81096863.
Sakaguchi M, et al. Food allergy to gelatin in children with systemic immediate-type reactions, including anaphylaxis, to vaccines. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1996 Dec;98(6 Pt 1):1058-61. PMID: 8977505; UI: 97132048.
Sakaguchi M, et al. IgE-mediated systemic reactions to gelatin included in the varicella vaccine. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1997 Feb;99(2):263-4. No abstract available.PMID: 9042057; UI: 97194619
Sakaguchi M, et al. Systemic immediate-type reactions to gelatin included in Japanese encephalitis vaccines. Vaccine. 1997 Feb;15(2):121-2. PMID: 9066026; UI: 97218589
http://www.whale.to/vaccines/allergy.html
There are already a number of compelling arguments against vaccination, and now there may be one more to add to the list. According to a new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics, one of the most common childhood vaccinations may actually increase the risk of allergies.
After noting that rates of allergies have increased dramatically over the years in proportion to the prevalence of vaccinations, researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, decided to put their theory to the test. Specifically, they chose to examine the rates of allergies among children who had been vaccinated against measles vs. those who had been infected with the virus.
They examined the records of over 12,000 children between the ages of 5 and 13 and found that 73 percent of them had been vaccinated against measles, 20 percent had had a case of the virus, and 14 percent hadn't had the illness or the vaccine.
According to the researchers "allergies were less likely in children who had had a bout of measles, but not in those who had been vaccinated against measles."
Of course, I have no doubt that most mainstream medical authorities would argue that the benefits of the measles vaccine outweigh the risk of allergies. Unfortunately, that's just not true.
The first thing to keep in mind in regard to the measles is that it isn't the potentially lethal infection it was hundreds of years ago. In fact, in the October 2004 issue of Nutrition & Healing, Dr. Wright filled readers in on research done in the 1920s proving that death from measles is entirely preventable with a single, good-size dose of vitamin A. This simple, completely natural technique cut the death rate from measles to zero in treated children.
But aside from simply being unnecessary, the measles vaccine has a much darker side as well…
Before vaccination became the norm, nearly all children got the measles. The kids had the measles rash and fever for a few days and then recovered with a very strong anti-measles antibody response -- a response so strong that it would last a little girl throughout childhood and well into adulthood.
When that little girl grows up and becomes pregnant, her unborn child is automatically protected by her antibodies against measles. Not only that, but those strong anti- measles antibodies are "passively transferred" from mother to her newborn child. The infant is then protected by mother's antibodies from getting the measles until age 4 or so, and the cycle can repeat itself over and over, with no loss of life.
Today's vaccination program has altered this natural cycle -- and not for the better. A vaccinated little girl gets a much weaker anti-measles antibody response because the vaccine contains a deliberately "weakened" (attenuated) form of the virus. So when a vaccinated little girl grows up and becomes a mother, any anti-measles antibodies she has left to transfer to her infant are too weak to provide much protection at all.
As Dr. Wright explained in the October 2004 issue of Nutrition & Healing, regular measles infection is much tougher on infants than it is on older children and poses more risk of complications (although, vitamin A will still prevent death).
The bottom line here is that the fear that has been built up around measles over the past several centuries is unwarranted. In the long run, vaccinations against this infection may do children much more harm than good -- and battling a case of the measles may do them much more good than harm.
Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Editor
Nutrition & Healing - Dr. Jonathan Wright