Autoimmunity as a Contraindication to Getting Vaccinated

Can your kids get vaccinated if they have an autoimmune disease?

Can your kids get vaccinated if you or another family member have an autoimmune disease?

Can your kids get vaccinated if you did one of those 23andMe genetic risk type tests?

“Risks associated with use of the 23andMe GHR tests include false positive findings, which can occur when a person receives a result indicating incorrectly that he or she has a certain genetic variant, and false negative findings that can occur when a user receives a result indicating incorrectly that he or she does not have a certain genetic variant. Results obtained from the tests should not be used for diagnosis or to inform treatment decisions. Users should consult a health care professional with questions or concerns about results.”

FDA allows marketing of first direct-to-consumer tests that provide genetic risk information for certain conditions

Not surprisingly, in almost all cases, the answer is yes.

Autoimmunity as a Contraindication to Getting Vaccinated

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some true medical reasons that kids shouldn’t be vaccinated.

“Contraindications (conditions in a recipient that increases the risk for a serious adverse reaction) and precautions to vaccination are conditions under which vaccines should not be administered. Because the majority of contraindications and precautions are temporary, vaccinations often can be administered later when the condition leading to a contraindication or precaution no longer exists. A vaccine should not be administered when a contraindication is present; for example, MMR vaccine should not be administered to severely immunocompromised persons. However, certain conditions are commonly misperceived as contraindications (i.e., are not valid reasons to defer vaccination).”

Vaccine Recommendations and Guidelines of the ACIP

Which autoimmune diseases are listed as contraindications to get vaccinated?

None.

Which autoimmune diseases are listed as precautions to get vaccinated?

There are just a few, including Guillain-Barré syndrome (DTaP, Tdap, and flu vaccines) and thrombocytopenic purpura (MMR), but they typically don’t mean that you can’t still get vaccinated. And the general precaution to avoid getting a vaccine during “moderate or severe acute illness with or without fever” would apply to a time when you are acutely sick with your autoimmune disease, but you would get vaccinated once your symptoms were under better control.

Other things about autoimmune diseases are simply misperceived as being contraindications or precautions to getting vaccinated. Or they are pushed as anti-vaccine propaganda to scare you away from getting vaccinated and protected or to help you get a fake medical exemption.

“…vaccines are able to prevent some infections in MS patients known to accelerate the progression of the disease and increase the risk of relapses.”

Mailand et al on Vaccines and multiple sclerosis: a systemic review

For example, not only do vaccines not cause multiple sclerosis, they are recommended because they can prevent vaccine-preventable diseases that can make the disease worse for many people.

And flu shots and other vaccines are highly recommended for kids with diabetes, as they are at high risk for flu complications.

Vaccines are safe and necessary, even, and sometimes especially, if you have an autoimmune disease.

And having a predisposition for an autoimmune disease, either because of your child’s family history, or because of the results of some genetic testing kit you ordered on the internet, certainly isn’t a reason to skip or delay your child’s vaccines and leave them unprotected. You’re not avoiding any of the triggers that can cause autoimmune disease and simply increase the risk that they will get a vaccine-preventable disease and get others sick.

More on Autoimmunity as a Contraindication to Getting Vaccinated

• VAXOPEDIA – Can Vaccines Cause Guillain-Barre Syndrome?
• VAXOPEDIA – Can Vaccines Cause ITP?
• VAXOPEDIA – Can Vaccines Cause Multiple Sclerosis?
• VAXOPEDIA – ASIA (Autoimmune Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants)
• VAXOPEDIA – Do Vaccines Cause PANDAS?
• VAXOPEDIA – What Are the Signs of MTHFR Mutations?
• VAXOPEDIA – MTHFR Mutations and Polymorphisms
• Addressing Parents’ Concerns: Do Vaccines Cause Allergic or Autoimmune Diseases?
• CDC – Vaccine Recommendations and Guidelines of the ACIP
• Ask the Experts: Precautions and Contraindications
• Vaccine Screening Questionaires
• Review – Vaccines and multiple sclerosis: a systematic review.
• Vaccine Smarts: Vaccines don’t cause JRA symptoms
• Do Vaccines Cause Arthralgia or Arthritis?
• Vaccines and Autoimmune Diseases
• Vaccine injury compensation and autoimmune syndromes
• Medical exemptions to vaccine mandates for sale after SB277! Get ’em before they’re gone!
• FDA – FDA allows marketing of first direct-to-consumer tests that provide genetic risk information for certain conditions