ACIP Recommends LAIV as an Option for All People With Egg Allergies

Live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) is likely to be an option for all individuals with egg allergies, regardless of allergy severity, because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to approve proposed amendments to the existing recommendations regarding administration of LAIV in individuals with egg allergies.

With 11 members voting “yes” and three choosing to abstain, the committee agreed to leave sections 1, 2, and 3 as they currently are, with a slight change to section 1 so that it will now include the latter half of recommendations that were previously placed under section 4. Therefore, section 1 of the recommendations for influenza vaccination of persons with egg allergy – which already states that “Regardless of a recipient’s allergy history, all vaccines should be administered in settings in which personnel and equipment for rapid recognition and treatment of anaphylaxis are available” – will now also include text stating that the vaccine should be administered in a medical setting and supervised by a health care provider with “experience in the recognition and management of severe allergic conditions,” or that such a medical professional should be “immediately available.”

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Sections 2 and 3 will remain the same. Section 2 states that a previous allergic reaction to the influenza vaccine is a contraindication to ever receiving the vaccine again in the future. Section 3 states that individuals with egg allergy who have only experienced hives due to eggs still should be administered the influenza vaccine.

The committee voted to strike section 5 of the existing recommendations, which calls for a 30-minute postvaccination observation period. However, the committee still advises that health care providers monitor all patients, particularly adolescents, for 15 minutes immediately after vaccination, and that individuals should be seated or lying down “to decrease the risk for injury should syncopy occur.”

The CDC generally follows ACIP’s recommendations.