Where I Beg You, Oh Wise Internet, For Help
My good friend, k@lakly over at this is now what I had planned–and also Cason and Caleb’s momma–sent me an email this morning asking me to ask my readers if they’d ever heard of this.
She took Cason into his 4 month well-baby visit and part of that visit is the ever-dreaded shots (Amelia got hers this week and it about broke my cold, shriveled heart). Today, he got diphtheria/tetanus/(and)pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, polio, and prevnar.
Today, he also ended up in anaphylaxis and stopped breathing. His momma (thank GOD) got him to the hospital in time and he’s stable now (thank GOD).
But this has stumped the doctors who have never seen anything like this before so his poor momma, k@lakly, asked me to post to the Internet to ask if anyone had seen this before.
So, wise Internet, rather than ask you to evaluate the size of my ever-widening ass, I beg your help. Has anyone, ANYONE heard of anything like this? Send me an email at becky (at) dwink (dot) net or leave a comment here. Repost this, whatever it is that we can do to get this around.
And can everyone, EVERYONE send poor Cason and his momma some prayers and love today? Leave her some love here and she’ll be able to read it (she doesn’t have a post up about this as of yet).
Done. My God, how horrible.
Gail beat me to it. A lot of vaccines warn away people with egg allergies so that could very well be the culprit.
If that is it I think the doctors should try and screen for this allergy BEFORE giving these shots. It’s not like she’s been feeding a 4 mo old eggs and could have caught it herself!
Warm Healing thoughts going out to Cason and his momma!
How scary!! I wish I had some sage advice to supply, but I’ve never heard of this happening! Hopefully the other Internets will have some insight for your friend.
Wishing them (and you) all the best! 🙂
Oh no! I’ve never heard of that but I hope and pray that someone has an answer for her/them. I can’t imagine the doctors never having heard of it either. Very scary.
She should have him tested for an egg allergy. some of the vaccines contain egg products and can cause this in severly allergic kids.
Page 11 of this pdf file does touch on some anaphylactic reactions.
http://www.novaccine.com/pdffiles/HibTITTER_package_insert.pdf
Let me know if that was at all helpful.
my niece has had a seizure after two of her rounds of shots. I am so sorry to hear about Cason. And no, the docs can’t figure out why the shots cause seizures…
Holy shit!! Poor mom and baby!!!! Any vaccine can cause allergic reactions, so when they give them a bunch all at once (which always pissed me off), it’s very difficult to determine what the reaction was to.
Egg is the usual suspect, as the others have said, but the preservatives can be a problem.
Best advice is to get to a very experienced allergist to have him tested extensively. Just because her doctors have “never heard of such a thing,” doesn’t mean much, sadly.
I really hope everyone is okay. What a nightmare.
oh my goodness… no I ahve never heard of anythign like that! I am so glad that everyone is ok though… how freakin’ scary!!
Oh Jeebus. K, you and yours are at the forefront of my brain today, sending you all the best I can offer.
I only play a doctor on the internet, cuz my Dr. has much more to do with America circa 1776 than infant vaccines, but my hunch is that there’s an underlying problem that the shots exacerbated. I’d insist on a full work-over if one hasn’t been offered already.
I have a friend who had a similar experience with her son and they were able to determine that the reaction was from the Hib vaccine. I’ll be praying for Cason!
That’s just terrifying. Lots of love, K.
Awe, scary stuff! This type of severe reaction is usually in response to the egg used in many vaccines. When my girls were vaccinated, on each occassion we had to remain at the surgery for 15 mins post injections to rule out anaphylaxsis – it’s more common than many doctors will care to admit.
I’d suggest allergy testing before any more vaccinations and in future she should opt for single vaccinations as he may have other sensitivities.
The first thing that popped into my empty head when I read that was allergic reaction to a preservative in one of the shots. I am sure that the doctors have thought of that. I know I have gotten shots where they ask if I am allergic to shellfish before they give it to me, I think it was the last time I got a tetnus shot too. Are they going to do an allergy screening on him? I would for sure test for any of the substances that are used to preserve the shots. As someone else stated, I only play a doctor on the internet. ;0
I so hope they can figure it out and never have it happen again. Poor baby. Hugs and good thoughts sending your way Cason and family. (I originally put goog, not good.) I thought it was funnier, is that because it is finally Friday?
I was asked if my son had an egg allergy before he was given his flu shot at 10 months old. I concur with the others who suggest she look into that. Also, as pointed out by another poster, the product insert does include anaphylaxis as a possible systemic reaction. I would ask if that is in the insert due to reaction to the live vaccine itself, or the preservative included. She should continue to ask until she is satisfied with the answer, doctors saying they are stumped is unacceptable.
I think the egg allergy thing is specific to the flu shot, which they don’t give unless the baby is 6 months or more. Then again, I’m no doctor…this medicine stuff is just a hobby I seem to have.
Poor mom and baby!! How scary. I haven’t heard of anything like that but I’ll ask around.
Oh, crap… This is terrible. I am so glad Cason is ok. I have to run, and I will be back, but in the mean time:
a very quick search of the literature shows that there are reports of anaphylaxis following vaccines. Here’s a couple of links
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18941022
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18809449
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18087166
one on DTaP: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14624794, though this is from 2003 and the abstract seemingly indicates that the most common allergen in the vaccines has been pulled (paper is from Japan, so maybe not here?)
and a review, from 2006: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16476188
Finally, seeing a not-insignificant number of papers on this subject, a hearty WTF from me to the doctor never hearing about this.
I’ve never heard of it either. I always thought they were half doses? Very odd and soo scary. I’m so thankful he’s okay. I’ll keep my ears open. Leigha is in next week I’ll ask too and get back to you.
Like others have mentioned, it is probably an allergy to shellfish, eggs, or one of the preservatives. I find it very scary that an allergy was not the first thing the doctor thought of. How scary!
I have a very good friend whose daughter had the same post-vax response. She ended up going to the ER via ambulance. She came out of it a bit worse – asthma suddenly, and a bunch of strange food allergies. Seems like something in her vax triggered an allergy I guess. I do all my vaccines but one-at-a-time because her experience freaked me out.
Glad Cason is okay. SO, so scary.
WOW, that’s some scary shit! I’ve never heard about this happening before, but I’ll post about it. I’m sending Carson and his whole family lots of love and prayers today!
No advice, just wanted to say I’ll be praying. 🙁
That is terrifying! I’m so glad he is all right.
I find it hard to believe that doctors didn’t know it was possible. When my kids were vaccinated I received papers that listed it as a risk and showed what to watch for.
I imagine someone else has already mentioned this (I’m too lazy to look) but I believe it is generally allergy related. If I remember correctly it is usually most associated with the DPT shot but I could be remembering wrong. And I remember my doctor giving me the choice between the polio vaccination shot and the oral stuff for my kids but that the oral polio vaccine was more likely to cause problems.
At any rate, I would think the doctors should start testing for allergies and that might lead them somewhere. Of course I’m just a girl and not a doctor, you know.
xoxo
The literature I get with all the vaccines I believe states that as a rare but possible side effect. My first reaction was eggs as well……. but who knows…. I would start carrying the epi pen jr (in triplet, car, diaper bag, home)…………and get that baby to an allergist. I cannot imagine how frightening that must have been, when my daughter was having a horrible bout of silent reflux (and turning purple, gasping for air as she was choking on stomach acid) I was freaked the fuck out……and it only took me 4 minutes to get to the childrens hospital, scariest 4 minutes of my LIFE.
Here in teh UK we are usually asked to wait half an hour in the surgery after the first rounds of childhood vaccines to ensure if there is an allergic reaction babies can get rapid treatment. It is a known but very rare event.
How very frightening for all.
I’ve NEVER heard of that, but dear lord, I’m glad that baby is okay.
I’ve never heard of a reaction like that. Seems to me like they give these babies to many shots at once. Now they won’t know which shot caused the problem or if it was a combination of shots. What are they going to do when it’s time for me shot?! It’s a wonder we mothers survive all the scares these wee little things can spring on us.
Oh, how terrifying! I really know less than most of your readers, it seems, so I’m not able to offer any useful advice. But I’ll definitely be thinking of poor little Cason and hoping they can find what caused his reaction. I’m so glad he’s stable now and am sending my most positive thoughts his way.
Oh man, I have no idea! I have never heard of this. Please let us know if you get any answers!
Wow. My husband couldn’t get the influenza shot because of a possible egg allergy too, so maybe that has something to do with it. I hope everything is okay!
That must have been so scary. I bet the doctors saying they never heard of such a reaction was a poor way to say that has never happened to them before. I hope the little baby recovers soon.
i emailed you. Prayers prayers prayers for Cason
So scary! My prayers and thoughts are with them.
I feel so bad for poor Cason and poor Momma!
Sending out all the prayers I’ve got, which unfortunately, don’t come with any good advice.
Except, of course, kicking the living crap out of the doctor for giving a 4 month old all those shots at once. Vaccinations are fine; Bean is fully vaxxed. But it amazes me that pediatricians will warn parents away from baby lotion until the child is 6 months old and think nothing of giving 5 shots at once to a vulnerable infant.
We’ll be thinking of Cason tonight.
I know a couple of kids personally who’ve gone into anaphylaxis post vax and have heard of it before. But presently, we are not vaccinating our kids, so I’m quite familiar with all the PubMed (and other sourced) studies linking the connection of ana to vax, as we did an eff of a lot of research. If you’re weren’t neurotic about research, you probably wouldn’t come across those articles… unless your doctor is one of those wild and crazy types who actually practice informed consent.
Anyway.
Definitely thinking of little Carson! Super scary stuff.
Scary! I haven’t heard of anyone reacting to any of the shots you listed like this. Thinking of little Cason and wishing him a speedy recovery.
I went into anaphylaxis after the MMR and then had febrile convulsions after the pertussis. Now, when I have to get vaccines, I have to go to the infectious disease unit and sit there for 5 hours. . . .
It’s not common, but it can happen. He may grow out of it. I had the MMR again at 15 and then at 21, no problems either time (althoug on a titre I still show as not immune, even though I’ve had measels.)
I’m sorry, I’m sure it must have been very frightening.
A doctor I used to work with had that happen to her son when he got his baby shots and then he had a stroke. He is now a teenager and has some physical limitations from it, but they never did figure out why it happened. She said it was just a freak thing. Hope Cason will be OK
I’m sure I’m way to late to be of any help, but I will send my good thoughts their way. What a terrible, scary thing to have happen. Please let us know if they find out anything.
Prayers sent for little Carson, and his momma too. What a scary thing!
My husband managed to find mention of a very tiny risk of such a reaction in the paperwork we got when JAG got hers. It does happen apparently, but it is very rare I suppose.
Glad she got him to the hospital on time – so scary!
That is just too scary. And those MDs need a slap upside the head – never heard of a reaction like that, my ass. No advice, but many, many prayers being sent for Cason and Momma.
Leaving TONS of love for Cason and his momma. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoox
I’m commenting from my crackberry so I acnt view the other comments; forgive me if this is a repeat. A friend of mine is a Pedi-neuro-surg and he suggested having an allergy test for eggs.
Ill be praying either way.
Please us posted.
Seems as though I do recall seeing that as a possible complcation in all of the vaccine paperwork I’ve been given. One of those scary things that you always think won’t REALLY happen. How terrifying. They will be in my thoughts today.
crap that’s scary!! I have never heard of that, but so glad they are okay!!! xo. Love en route to Cason and mama!
I’m hoping little Carson’s ok, but saying a belated prayer anyway.
Sorry, I’ve got nothing. I wish the best for them.
I had a similar reaction to a flu vaccine 2 years ago. After seeing 2 allergists, it came down an allergy to the product of the chemical reaction between the vaccine agent and the serum it’s carried in. I was advised not to get another flu vaccine, but told that it’s unlikely that I’d have a reaction to another vaccine in the same serum because the chemical reaction with every agent is different.
It was a huge pain in the butt! I hope they can figure it out. Poor guy 🙁
My niece had a bad reaction to her second pertussis shot at age 6 months (this was over 23 years ago); she had a high fever, a convulsion, and on the way to the hospital she stopped breathing. Her pediatrician recommended that she never have another pertussis vaccine. She has a learning disability that her mom blames on the vaccine, but she’s grown up to be a healthy, lovely woman who owns her own very successful dog grooming business.