Removal of gelatin from
live vaccines and DTaP-an ultimate solution for vaccine-related gelatin
allergy.
Kuno-Sakai H, Kimura
M.
Department of Public Health and Social Medicine, School of
Medicine, Tokai University, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara City, Kanagawa,
259-1193, Japan.
From the early 1990s infants started to receive
acellular pertussis vaccine combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids
(DTaP) before live vaccines such as measles, rubella, and mumps
vaccines, which contained gelatin as a stabilizer. Then, an increasing
number of cases of anaphylactic/allergic reactions to those live
vaccines were reported. Almost all these cases had a previous history of
receiving three or four doses of DTaP containing
gelatin.Anaphylactic/allergic reactions to live measles vaccine were
analyzed using information obtained from the Reporting System, a
retrospective study, as well as from the Monitoring System, a
prospective study. Dramatic decreases in anaphylactic/allergic reactions
to live measles vaccines were observed immediately after each
manufacturer marketed gelatin-free or gelatin (hypo-allergic)-containing
live measles vaccine, and since the end of 1998 reports on
anaphylactic/allergic reactions to live measles vaccine have almost
ceased.