Anaphylactic Shock After Single Measles, Mumps, Rubella Jabs

There Are Between 18 and 22 Cases of Anaphylactic Shock Per 100,000 After Single Vaccines

Anaphylaxis as an adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) is a rare occurrence. We report four cases of anaphylaxis following administration of single component measles or rubella vaccine between January 2003 and June 2007. We estimate that the incidence of anaphylaxis to measles and rubella single component vaccines is 18.9 and 22.4 cases/100 000 doses, respectively. These figures are likely to be an underestimate but are higher than expected. Our calculations were hampered by lack of immunisation reporting data from the private sector. We recommend that NHS standards of vaccine data reporting are also applied to private clinics.

Source: Archives of Disease in Childhood 2008;93:974-975;

VAN UK’S Comment: In our opinion, between 18 and 22 cases of life threatening shock per 100,000 people is not ‘rare’, it is quite high. Rare would be something like 1 in one million, and their estimations are higher than VAN imagined they would be.