For this reason “moderate or severe acute illness with or without fever” is a precaution for all vaccines, according to the ACIP. It can be easy to misattribute these symptoms to an unrelated illness or vice versa. Like any other medication, vaccines can sometimes cause mild side effects that typically go away all on their own (like a low-grade fever, a rash, and swelling of neck glands). The reason for this is because doctors don't want you to think that your illness symptoms were caused by the vaccine. Instead, it means that a child with this type of allergy should get vaccinated for the flu by a health-care provider who has good knowledge of allergic reactions, just in case.Īnother overarching precaution is if you're sick with something else at the time-even just a mild cold. Remember those one-in-a-million odds of a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine? Skipping the flu vaccine in this case wouldn’t be warranted. That doesn’t mean a child with this type of egg allergy automatically shouldn’t get vaccinated for the flu, the CDC explains. An example is how having an egg allergy that has caused breathing problems in the past is a precaution for flu vaccination because most flu vaccines are made through an egg-based process. One is if the vaccine may increase the child’s risk of a serious adverse reaction, but less so than a contraindication would, according to the ACIP.
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Then there are various precautions for vaccination, which can fall into a few different buckets. This won’t make a person with a typically functioning immune system sick, but if someone’s immune system is very weak, doctors often don’t want to take that chance. Live, attenuated vaccines use alive but extremely weak versions of the pathogen in question rather than dead versions. Severe immunodeficiency is basically the only time it’s possible for a vaccine-and even then only a live, attenuated vaccine-to give someone the illness it’s meant to protect against, like measles or chicken pox. Someone having a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine (which can happen with any medication) only happens in an estimated one in a million doses.Īs another example, a contraindication for vaccines such as MMR ( measles, mumps, rubella) or varicella ( chicken pox) is if someone has severe immunodeficiency, which can be caused by something like HIV, a treatment like chemotherapy, or long-term immunosuppressive therapy, according to the ACIP. Its goal is to best protect children’s health across the United States.įor example, a contraindication for most commonly used vaccines is the extremely rare instance that someone has had a “severe allergic reaction (e.g., anaphylaxis) after a previous dose or to a vaccine component,” per the ACIP. This list is put together by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a committee within the CDC, and issued in conjunction with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). “ have a very standard list as to what should and shouldn’t be considered a medical contraindication to vaccination,” Dr.
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Here’s where things start to get a little more complex. For now, let’s dive into medical exemptions.
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You’ll see why this distinction matters so much in a bit. Most states also offer two types of exemptions for reasons that have nothing to do with health: religious and/or philosophical, meaning a child can be excused from a vaccine on the grounds of religious or personal beliefs. territories have their own laws regarding medical exemptions, per the CDC, but they all permit them in some form.
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Orenstein, M.D., professor of medicine, epidemiology, global health, and pediatrics at Emory University, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center, and director of Emory Vaccine Policy and Development, tells SELF.Īs with vaccine requirements, all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. “The general intent is to allow children who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons to still be entered into school,” Walter A. In theory medical exemptions are pretty straightforward. Why some people need medical exemptions from vaccinations Here’s what you need to know about medical exemptions for vaccines, including why they should really only be given in the rare cases when they’re absolutely necessary. Medical exemptions are at the crux of some of the most contentious arguments over how vaccination requirements should work, and more precisely who should be vaccinated in the first place. But if you’ve followed the conversations around vaccines, you’ve probably seen the phrase medical exemptions pop up more than a few times. It’s essential not just for the health of the person getting the vaccine but also for the health of others in the community. As a matter of public health, everyone who can get vaccinated safely should-so that's the vast majority of people.