Joint Task Force to Those with Egg Allergies. 'Get Your Flu Shot!'

     In the midst of what might turn out to be a particularly destructive flu season there seems to be at least a small glimmer of hope. It comes from the Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters in Allergy and Immunology (JTF), a group founded in 1989 by members of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. After extensive review, the JTF has revised its flu vaccination standards for those with egg allergies, declaring that there is no longer a "need to take any special precautions. The overwhelming evidence since 2011 has shown that a flu shot poses no greater risk to those with egg allergy than those without."
     This ruling comes after decades of concerns that the flu vaccine, which is manufactured using chicken eggs, would be unsafe for people with allergies to egg proteins, as those proteins are found in small quantities in the vaccine. However, now that multiple studies have failed to show any higher risk of negative reaction to the flu vaccine in people with even severe egg allergies, it appears that the vaccine is completely safe for use in this population.
     These new guidelines will likely slightly increase the overall rate of flu vaccination, as those with egg allergies will no longer face any restrictions when receiving their flu shots. In addition young children, most likely to have egg allergies, are also the population most at risk from the flu, so this change to the guidelines seems poised to extend the protection for this vulnerable section of the population.
   - J. Cole Holderman
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