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Britain’s drug regulator has advised people with a history of significant allergies not to get the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine after two people reported adverse reactions on the first day of its launch in the UK.
UK officials said there had been two reports of anaphylaxis and one report of a possible allergic reaction since the launch began on Tuesday.
Anaphylaxis can cause a sore throat, shortness of breath and difficulty swallowing, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Anaphylaxis is an overreaction of the body’s immune system, described by the UK National Health Service as serious and sometimes life-threatening.
British regulators initially responded by saying that anyone with a history of a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, drug or food should not inject themselves.
An advisor to the group later said the advice was being “modified” in part to say that a food allergy was not a risk.
Late on Wednesday, the UK regulator said that anyone with a history of anaphylaxis to a vaccine, drug or food should not receive the vaccine.
Pfizer had excluded people with a history of significant adverse reactions to vaccines or its vaccine ingredients from late-stage trials.
US regulators are expected to consider emergency authorization of the Pfizer vaccine shortly after an advisers meeting Thursday.
Moncef Slaoui, who is spearheading the US government’s vaccine development efforts, said on Wednesday that he hoped British allergic reactions would be considered in the US authorization process and that people with known severe allergic reactions they probably shouldn’t take the vaccine until it is better understood.
Some doctors praised the caution of UK regulators, while others said the available evidence did not warrant broad restrictions.
“For the general population, this does not mean that they should be anxious to get the vaccine,” said Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
What would be prudent, he said, would be “for anyone who has known a severe allergic reaction who needs to wear an EpiPen to delay vaccination until the reason for the allergic reaction is clarified.”
Mayo Clinic virologist Gregory Poland, who has advised US regulators, described Britain’s initial reaction as “exaggerated”, pointing to the initial response on food allergies, which he said had nothing to do with reactions.
“I would have said, ‘If you’ve had anaphylactic-level reactions to vaccines, we want to know, so we take special care,'” he said.
“That does not mean that it would not immunize you.
“But I would do it in a more controlled environment.”
Imperial College London professor of experimental medicine Peter Openshaw praised the way the reactions had been handled.
“The fact that we know so soon about these two allergic reactions and that the regulator has acted on them to issue precautionary advice shows that the monitoring system is working well,” he said.
Mitchell Grayson, director of the division of allergy and immunology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, expressed concern about how the issue could reduce interest in vaccines.
“I’m concerned that the whole event will make millions of people choose not to get vaccinated because of what they heard,” he said.
Louisa James, an immunology expert at Queen Mary University of London, said: “In the UK in 2012 there were around seven hospital admissions for every 100,000 people for severe allergies.
“This included different triggers, such as food, medication, and insect bites.”
James said deaths were still rare and had not increased even as hospital admissions had increased in many countries. – Reuters
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