Tag: meningococcal vaccines

Is Meningitis a Side Effect of Vaccines?

Most folks know that there are several meningitis vaccines.

Hib, Prevnar, MMR, and the meningococcal vaccines, for example, all protect folks against meningitis.

Is Meningitis a Side Effect of Vaccines?

So why would some people think that vaccines could actually cause meningitis?

Is meningitis listed on the package insert of any vaccines?

Meningitis is listed as a possible adverse event in the package insert of some vaccines, but only in the section that includes spontaneously reported data from post-marketing experience, where it “may not be possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to vaccine exposure.”

It is just like when folks find autism or SIDS in a vaccine’s package insert and think that it is evidence that vaccines are associated with autism or SIDS.

SIDS and autism are listed in Tripedia package insert, but are not causally linked to the vaccine.

It isn’t.

These adverse reactions are listed “because of the seriousness OR frequency of reporting.” They are not included because they are serious AND frequent, as some anti-vaccine sites like to proclaim.

How Could a Vaccine Cause Meningitis?

When you think about it, how could a vaccine actually cause someone to develop meningitis?

Why would you even think this is true?

Meningitis is typically caused by a virus, bacteria, parasite, or fungus, etc.

While a live virus vaccine might rarely be able to cause an infection, few of the meningitis vaccines are live virus vaccines. Prevnar, Hib and the meningococcal vaccines are all sub-unit vaccines. Since only a part of bacteria (antigens) is actually present in the vaccine, it is not possible for them to cause an infection.

What about the live virus vaccines, like MMR, chicken pox, and rotavirus?

Since these viral infections rarely cause meningitis, except for mumps, you wouldn’t expect the rare vaccine induced infection to cause meningitis either. A natural measles infection, for example, is more likely to cause encephalitis instead.

“…there is no evidence to link Jeryl Lynn mumps vaccine to aseptic meningitis.”

MMR Package Insert

What about the chicken pox vaccine? There is a case report of a vaccinated child who later developed shingles and meningitis, caused by vaccine strain chicken pox virus. He recovered fully and it is important to note that folks with natural chicken pox are thought to be even more likely to develop shingles, and they too can develop meningitis.

The bottom line is that if someone has meningitis, even if they were recently vaccinated, you shouldn’t be blaming the vaccines.

Like they do with VAERS reports, misusing package inserts is a common method that anti-vaccine folks use to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

What to Know About Meningitis and Vaccine Package Inserts

Although included in some vaccine package inserts, except for rare circumstances with some live virus vaccines, none actually claim that vaccines cause meningitis.

Can Vaccines Cause Kawasaki Disease?

Kawasaki disease is rare and there is a good chance that you have never even heard of it, even though the first case was diagnosed in 1961.

Kids with this condition are typically irritable and can develop high fever, swollen glands in their neck, red eyes, red, cracked lips, red, swollen hands and feet, and a rash.

If you have heard of it, there is a good chance it is because anti-vaccine folks are using Kawasaki disease to scare you away from vaccinating and protecting your kids. Lately, talk about Kawasaki disease and the meningococcal B vaccines have been going around.

What Causes Kawasaki Disease?

Kawasaki disease is a type of vasculitis.

Kids who develop Kawasaki disease, who are typically under age 5 years, develop inflammation of their blood vessels, which leads to many of the symptoms and complications we see.

What causes this inflammation?

“Evidence suggests that Kawasaki disease may be linked to a yet-to-be identified infectious agent, such as a virus or bacteria. However, despite intense research, no bacteria, virus, or toxin has been identified as a cause of the disease.”

AAP on Kawasaki disease

We don’t know.

Can Vaccines Cause Kawasaki Disease?

Ask about Kawasaki disease if your child has a fever for five days and other symptoms of Kawasaki disease. — Courtesy of the kdfoundation.org

Because the cause of Kawasaki disease is unknown, that leads some folks to think that it could be vaccines.

Could it?

That vaccine clinical trial data sometimes finds a higher, although not statistically significant risk for Kawasaki disease, gets some of those folks thinking about it even more, except they don’t seem to think about the fact that the risk is never statistically significant.

But aren’t there case reports of kids getting Kawasaki disease after getting a hepatitis A, yellow fever, hepatitis B, or flu vaccine?

Yes, but getting a case report published about one patient who you think got Kawasaki disease soon after getting a vaccine isn’t strong evidence that it wasn’t a coincidence.

“Childhood vaccinations’ studied did not increase the risk of Kawasaki disease; conversely, vaccination was associated with a transient decrease in Kawasaki disease incidence. Verifying and understanding this potential protective effect could yield clues to the underlying etiology of Kawasaki disease.”

Abrams et al. on Childhood vaccines and Kawasaki disease, Vaccine Safety Datalink, 1996-2006.

And not surprisingly, several studies have shown that there isn’t any extra risk for Kawasaki disease after routine vaccines.

One even showed that getting vaccinated could be protective! Another benefit of vaccines and another reason you shouldn’t skip or delay your child’s immunizations.

What to Know About Vaccines and Kawasaki Disease

While anti-vaccine folks often list Kawasaki disease among their vaccine-induced diseases, several studies have shown that vaccines are not associated with Kawasaki disease, except to maybe have a protective effective if you are fully vaccinated.

Meningitis Vaccines

Meningitis is classically defined as an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.

Infections that can cause meningitis include:

viruses – also called aseptic meningitis, it can be caused by enteroviruses, measles, mumps, and herpes, etc.
bacteria – Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, Listeria monocytogenes, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Group B strep
a fungus – Cryptococcus, Histoplasma
parasites – uncommon
amebas – Naegleria fowleri

There are even non-infectious causes of meningitis, including the side-effects of medications and certain systemic illnesses.

Meningitis Vaccines

Teens and young adults need two different kinds of meningococcal vaccines to get full protection.

Fortunately, many of these diseases that cause meningitis are vaccine-preventable.

You don’t often think about them in this way, but all of the following vaccines are available to prevent meningitis, including:

Hib – the Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteria was a common cause of meningitis in the pre-vaccine era, in addition to causing epiglottitis and pneumonia
Prevnar – you mean it’s not just an ear infection vaccine?
MMR – both measles and mumps can cause meningitis
Menactra and Menveo – serogroup A, C, W, Y meningococcal vaccines
Bexsero and Trumenba – serogroup B meningococcal vaccines

But just because your child has been vaccinated doesn’t mean that you are in the clear if they are exposed to someone with meningitis. They might still need preventative antibiotics if they are exposed to someone with Hib or meningococcal meningitis.

Still, getting fully vaccinated on time is the best way to prevent many of these types of meningitis and other life-threatening diseases.

What to Know About Meningitis Vaccines

Learn which vaccines are available to provide protection against bacterial and viral meningitis.

Vaccines in Special Situations

In addition to getting routine vaccines, there are some special situations in which kids need extra vaccines or extra dosages of vaccines.

800px-infant_with_cochlear_implant — Children with a cochlear implant need the Pneumovax 23 vaccine.

Traveling out of the country and being pregnant are almost certainly the most common special situation when it comes to vaccines.

Vaccines for High Risk Conditions

Other special situations include children with high risk conditions, such as:

complement component deficiencies – Menveo or Menactra, MenB
chronic heart disease – PPSV23
chronic lung disease (not including asthma) – PPSV23
diabetes mellitus – PPSV23
CSF leaks – PPSV23
cochlear implants – PPSV23
chronic liver disease – PPSV23
cigarette smoking – PPSV23
sickle cell disease – PPSV23
congenital or acquired asplenia – Menveo or Menactra, PPSV23, MenB
congenital or acquired immunodeficiencies – PPSV23
HIV infection – PPSV23
chronic renal failure – PPSV23
nephrotic syndrome – PPSV23
leukemia – PPSV23
lymphoma – PPSV23
hodgkin disease – PPSV23
iatrogenic immunosuppression – PPSV23
solid organ transplant – PPSV23
multiple myeloma – PPSV23

In general, the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, PPSV23 or Pneumovax 23, should be given when a high risk child is at least 2 years old and at least 4 weeks after their last dose of Prevnar 13. Some will need an additional booster dose of Pneumovax 23 after five years.

Remember, most children routinely get 4 doses of Prevnar 13 when they are 2, 4, 6, and 12-15 months old.

And while most kids just get one dose of PPSV23, others, especially those with any type of immunosuppression, get a repeat dose every five years.

Getting Revaccinated

Are there ever situations when kids need to get revaccinated?

While it might be hard to believe, there are more than a few reasons that kids get revaccinated.

The most obvious is when kids lose their vaccine records, although checking vaccine titers might help avoid repeating some or all of your child’s vaccines.

Children who have had a hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) should routinely get revaccinated:

starting with inactivated vaccines six months after the transplant, including a 3-dose regiment of Prevnar 13, followed by PPSV23, a 3-dose regiment of Hib, and a yearly flu shot and other inactivated vaccines
continuing with a dose of MMR 24 months after the transplant if they are immunocompetent and possibly the chicken pox vaccine

Children who are adopted in a foreign country also often need to repeat all or most of their vaccines. Again, titers can often be done to avoid repeating doses.

Other Special Situations

Other special situations in which your child might need to get vaccinated off the standard immunization schedule might include:

missing one or more vaccines and needing to catch-up
getting exposed to rabies (cats, dogs, raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes, and coyotes)
having a wound that is not considered clean and minor (usually “wounds contaminated with dirt, feces, soil, and saliva; puncture wounds; avulsions; and wounds resulting from missiles, crushing, burns, and frostbite”) if it has been more than five years since their last dose of tetanus vaccine (or a clean and minor wound and it has been more than 10 years)
getting exposed to chicken pox (or shingles) or measles and not being fully vaccinated (two doses of the chicken pox and two doses of the MMR vaccines) or naturally immune, as a vaccine within 72 hours may decrease their risk of getting sick

Do your kids have a medical condition that might put them at high risk for a vaccine-preventable disease?

Do they need a vaccine that other kids don’t routinely get?

For More Information on Vaccines in Special Situations

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Is Meningitis a Side Effect of Vaccines?