Vaccines - The Common Link Between Most Allergies

Allergic reactions are one of the main problems associated with vaccines. The link between the two was established as long ago as 1839 but it was the work of French scientists Paul Portier and Charles Richet who brought the subject to the fore. In 1902 they tried to create tolerance in dogs against the sting of the poisonous Portuguese - Man - of - War. However, the dogs that had been previously injected with the toxin, died when they were subsequently vaccinated again. They had been sensitized to the antigen instead of being immunised and the second injection caused a fatal reaction. Portier and Richet called this reaction anaphylaxis and explained it in the following terms –

“Administration of a substance insufficient to kill or even sicken a normal animal that produces fulminating symptoms and death in an animal previously inoculated with the same substance.”

In 1906, the link between vaccinations and allergic reactions was further established when Austrian paediatrician Clemens von Pirquet, became the first person to use the word allergy to describe hypersensitivity after vaccination. He, and his Hungarian colleague, Bela Schick, discovered that patients who were vaccinated for diphtheria with horse serum had severe reactions when given a second shot. This reaction to vaccines had been known as serum sickness and was a widespread phenomenon.

Von Pirquet and Schick postulated that the reaction was caused by the antibodies from the first vaccination combining with the horse proteins in the second to create a hypersensitive reaction. Other early studies also proved that injecting foreign proteins into the body can cause sensitisation and subsequent injections can then cause anaphylaxis.

Today, the link between vaccinations, allergies and anaphylaxis is well established. 

The MSD Veterinary manual explains the mechanism behind anaphylaxis -

“If the animal has been previously sensitized by exposure to an allergen (antigen) and produces IgE antibodies, then injection of the sensitizing antigens directly into the bloodstream can result in anaphylactic shock and related reactions (eg, hives, urticaria, facial-conjunctival edema).”

This is, of course, the same for humans as animals and is exactly how vaccines create allergies. The first vaccine sensitises the person to the allergen in the jab, because it goes directly into the muscles and then the bloodstream, where the body’s immune system sees it as a foreign invader and creates antibodies. Then when a booster is delivered the system overreacts and causes anaphylaxis. Even if the person doesn’t receive a booster, they are still sensitised to the original antigen and if they come into contact with it again via skin contact or digesting it, they can still have an allergic reaction to it.

Despite this, however, vaccination is usually completely ignored as a causative agent when discussing the majority of allergies from which people suffer. Yet, as can be demonstrated, vaccination is the common denominator amongst them all.

Egg

Egg albumin is one of the main allergens and is a common ingredient in vaccines as eggs are frequently used as a medium in which to grow the vaccine viruses. A Japanese study noted that flu vaccines could be dangerous to those suffering from egg allergies whilst a Korean study specifically mentions egg protein as one of the main causes of vaccine-induced anaphylaxis and highlights the seriousness of the issue by stating –

“Whilst the general adverse reactions including allergic reactions caused by the vaccine itself or the vaccine components, are rare, they can in some circumstances be serious and even fatal. In accordance with many IgE-mediated reactions and immediate-type allergic reactions, the primary allergens are proteins. The proteins most often implicated in vaccine allergies are egg and gelatine with perhaps rare reactions to yeast or latex. “

Eggs are commonly used as a emduim in which to grow viruses for vaccines.

Gelatine

In the Korean study above, they also mention gelatine as one of the main allergens in vaccines. Gelatine is extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as cows and pigs. In 2000, The Japanese journal of infectious diseases recorded just how dangerous gelatine in vaccines can be when they noted children going into anaphylactic shock after being vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella. They discovered that they had all previously been vaccinated with gelatine-containing DTP ( Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis) vaccines and concluded that this is what sensitized them to the gelatine and The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology arrived at a similar conclusion –

“Most anaphylactic reactions and some urticarial reactions to gelatine-containing measles, mumps, and rubella monovalent vaccines are associated with IgE-mediated gelatine allergy. DTaP immunization histories suggest that the gelatine-containing DTaP vaccine may have a causal relationship to the development of this gelatine allergy.”

However, not only do patients become allergic to gelatine itself but they may have an allergic reaction when they eat meat from the species of animal of which the gelatine is derived e.g. cow, pig or, occasionally, fish. Not only that, but they can also have allergic reactions to other sources of meat as well due to cross-reactivity. This is a phenomenon whereby people sensitized to one allergen can become allergic to allergens with similar epitopes or protein structures. In this case, being allergic to gelatine from one animal species may also mean being allergic to meat from other species. According to the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 16% of people sensitised to beef gelatine and 38% of those sensitised to pork gelatine have IgE antibodies to gelatines that are cross-reactive.

Peanuts

One of the most well-known and dangerous allergies is an allergy to peanuts. In her book, The Peanut Allergy, by Heather Fraser,  the author details the history of the peanut allergy epidemic and suggests vaccines as the culprit.  Unknown to most people is the fact that peanut oil was used in vaccines as early as 1964 in a substance called adjuvant 65. Many other vaccines have been produced since that contain peanut oil and there are companies that sell peanut oil for vaccine use.

According to author, the evidence pointing to vaccines being the source of peanut allergies emerged after the Second World War when peanut oil was added to penicillin injections to make the medicinal effect last longer. Soon after the injections’ introduction, however, children with sensitivity to peanut oils started appearing. As Richet had already established, injecting any foreign protein into the bloodstream can cause an allergic reaction and although the peanut oil used in the penicillin formulas was refined it was impossible to extract all the proteins from the finished product. 

But the problem does not end there. People who are sensitized to peanuts can also become allergic to other foods due to cross-reactivity. These are usually from the same family such as soy but can also be from a different family of foods such tree nuts e.g. Brazil nuts, almonds and hazel nuts. 

peanuts have been used in vaccines since 1964.

Soy

Soy, as just noted, can cross react with peanuts but it is also an allergen in its own right. It isn’t surprising then to discover that soy is also used in vaccines as an adjuvant. In fact veterinary surgeon, Dr Franchesca Zenitsky directly links food allergies to vaccines containing substances such as soy –  “Many commercial vaccines contain vegetable oil adjuvants (corn, soy, peanut) that can cause the immune system to recognise them as a  foreign invader leading to food allergies and intolerance.”

Corn

Dr Zenitsky also mentions corn in her statement about vaccines leading to food allergies. Corn is another of the major allergens and is used in a number of vaccines It can also be found in vaccines in many forms. Dextrose is one of the main ones and it is known to cause anaphylaxis. Then there is Polysorbate 80, a combination of sorbitan, which is derived from corn, and oleic acid. Polysorbate 80, also known as Tween 80, is also known to cause anaphylaxis as this extract from the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology states -

“Polysorbate 80 is a ubiquitously used solubilizing agent that can cause severe nonimmunologic anaphylactoid reactions.”

Fish

Fish is another major cause of human allergies and it is the protein parvalbumin that is usually responsible. Once again, fish proteins are included in human vaccines. These are usually in the form of a substance known as squalene, which is normally derived from sharks’ liver which contains parvalbumin. In a patent for a squalene adjuvant for vaccines it says -
  
“In addition, sharks can contain proteins to which humans can be allergic. A common fish protein to which humans are allergic is parvalbumin which is found in sharks.”

Squalene, in anthrax vaccines given to soldiers during the gulf war, is believed to be responsible for the high number of personnel becoming ill with, what became known later as, Gulf War Syndrome.

Squalene from shark’s liver is used in vaccines and is believd to be the cause of Gulf War Syndrome.

Shellfish

Another major allergy group is shellfish. The component believed to be the cause of this is a protein called tropomyosin. This is found in the muscles of crustaceans and insects. It is also found in substances called chitin and chitosan which makes up the exoskeleton of these creatures. 

Chitin and chitosan are also used in vaccines. Moreover, tropomyosin, is a cross-reactive allergen which can cause allergic reactions to other creatures including dust mites, another major source of allergies, and insects as per the International Archives of Allergy and Immunology.

“Immunological relationships between crustaceans, cockroaches and house dust mites have been established and may suggest tropomyosin as an important cross-sensitizing pan allergen.”

It is clear then that vaccines containing tropomyosin could eventually lead to seafood and dust mite allergies. 

Wheat

The two main sources of food allergies in humans, are wheat and dairy products. Both can be explained by the ingredients in vaccines.

There are numerous reasons why vaccines may cause a wheat allergy. In the manufacturing process, a growth medium is used to culture the viruses for the vaccines. It usually consists of bovine serum but can also consist of wheat gluten.

Squalene has been mentioned earlier as a vaccine adjuvant and, as noted, is usually made form shark liver oil. However, as the following paragraph from a vaccine patent says, it can also be made from wheat  –

“Squalene……  is an unsaturated oil which is found in large quantities in shark-liver oil, and in lower quantities in olive oil, wheat germ oil, rice bran oil, and yeast, and is a particularly preferred oil for use in this invention.”

So, we have two wheat derived components that can be in vaccines but there are also other ways in which vaccines can cause wheat allergies. This is due, once again, to the problem of cross reactivity.

Pertactin is a protein which helps the bordatella pertussis bacteria attach to the lining of the host’s airways. It is used in the human pertussis vaccine. The problem arises because part of the protein structure of pertactin is similar to a 33 amino acid chain of gliadin –an allergenic wheat protein and a component of gluten. It is therefore possible that any person who has been sensitized to pertactin via a vaccine could then become allergic to wheat or could end up with celiac disease.

A protein used in the pertussis vaccine can cross react with gliadin - a protein in wheat.

Dairy

The other substance found frequently in vaccines that shows cross-reactivity to wheat is the milk protein casein. Various studies have confirmed this link between the two allergens. Casein is frequently used in the vaccine manufacturing process as part of the cultures on which viruses and bacteria are grown and is subsequently found in the finished vaccine product.

Although casein is cross-reactive with gliadin, it is a powerful antigen in its own right.

In an article in Clinical and Translational Medicine it mentions a study that -

“Evaluated 8 pediatric patients with previous anaphylaxis arisen within 60 minutes after an acellular diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine. In 6 of these children an immediate allergic reaction to milk proteins have been recorded, and in 5 of these the reaction was a severe one. In all children a significant sensitization to milk proteins have been documented within 2 years after vaccine reaction.”

The authors noted that the antigen responsible was casein in in the vaccines.

The other major milk protein that causes allergies is Bovine Serum Albumin. BSA, is not only found in milk however, but also in bovine blood serum that is widely used to feed the cell cultures used in vaccine manufacture. So well-known is its potential to cause allergic reactions that the World Health Organization has even recognised the problem –

 “Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is a major component of fetal bovine serum (FBS), which is commonly used as a culture medium during vaccine production. Because BSA can cause allergic reactions in humans the World Health Organization (WHO) has set a guidance of 50 ng or less residual BSA per vaccine dose.”

Other scientific publications mention some of the vaccines, such as MMR, Varicella and Zoster, known to contain BSA as a component  and the publication, ‘Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy’ actually states that a vaccine containing BSA residue caused anaphylaxis.

However, not only is BSA an allergen but it shows a high level of cross reactivity with albumins found in food derived from other mammalian sources such as chicken, pork and mutton. Therefore, being sensitized to BSA from vaccinations may make you allergic to a host of meat food sources. According to Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research-

“BSA, the most abundant blood plasma protein, is one of the important proteins leading to the development of beef-induced food allergy, which may be why milk and beef allergies frequently coexist. It has been also reported that beef may have cross-reactivity with other meats, such as pork, chicken, and mutton, due to the similar structure of mammalian serum albumins.”

Bovine Serum Albumin is widely used in cell cultures to grow viruses for vaccines.

Latex

Latex stoppers are frequently used in vaccine vials and in the actual syringes used to inject the vaccines. Latex particles from these can end up in the vaccine. It has been estimated that ‘coring,’ where particles form the vial stopper get attached to the needle and injected into the patient, happens up to 40% of the time.  This can lead to allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock. The Center for Disease Control in the USA has warned -

“If a person reports a severe anaphylactic allergy to latex, vaccines supplied in vials or syringes that contain natural rubber latex should be avoided if possible. If not, if the decision is made to vaccinate, providers should be prepared to treat immediate allergic reactions due to latex, including anaphylaxis.”

However, being sensitized to latex can have other consequences. Again, cross –reactivity plays a major part. Commercial latex comes from the rubber tree, Hevea Brasiliensis and, like all species of plants, have proteins called profilins which are known allergens. If a person has an allergy to a profilin of one plant species, they can have an allergen to another. Where latex is concerned, cross-reactive allergens are found in fruit and vegetables such as avocado, banana, kiwi, peach, tomato, potato, chestnut, pepper and also wheat. Therefore, someone who has been sensitized to latex via a vaccination may be allergic to one or more of these foods also. This phenomenon is known as latex-food syndrome. 

Latex from the stoppers of vaccine vials frequently gets injected into patients, causing latex allergies.

Pollen

It is important to mention pollen allergens in connection with latex allergy. This is because profilin is also a known allergen in grass pollen. One of the main grasses that cause allergies is timothy grass and, as it has similar epitopes to latex, it is cross-reactive with it.

Another pollen allergen is that of the birch tree. Again, these allergens are cross –reactive with other species including soy and peanut both of which, as previously mentioned, are ingredients in vaccines.

Wheat, as stated, is one of the major allergens and is an ingredient in some vaccines. Wheat pollen is also an allergen that can cause hay fever, just like other pollen species.

Therefore, we have the possibility that vaccines, with latex, soy, peanut or wheat components, are causing the widespread problem of pollen allergies.

Allergies to pets

The problem of pet owner’s children becoming allergic to their pets is becoming an increasingly distressing phenomenon. Vaccines could be the answer as to why this is happening and, yet again, it involves bovine serum albumin.

Allergies to cats and dogs are caused mainly by the animal’s epithelial cells which are usually mucous-producing cells within the body and skin cells.  When the skin cells are shed from animals they are sometimes referred to as ‘dander’. Bovine serum albumin is cross reactive with these epithelial cells in certain animal species.

A Spanish study noted just how cross-reactive BSA is -

“Determinations of specific IgE were positive to beef meat, lamb meat, pork meat and rabbit meat, dog, cat, cow, sheep and pork dander, cow's milk, and negative to chicken meat.”

In the journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology it clearly states that a person can become sensitised to animal epithelia without ever having come into contact with the animal.

“The first contact with SA was through cow's milk and patients developed sensitization to epithelia SA even without direct contact with animals. Patients with both BSA and cow's milk allergy must avoid raw meats and furry pets.”

In this instance the author is tracing the first contact with BSA back to cow’s milk. However, ingesting BSA in cow’s milk is highly unlikely to sensitise a child to BSA. Under normal circumstances proteins in food are broken, down via the digestive system,, into amino acids before being distributed throughout the body. So, unless the child has a digestive order such as leaky gut syndrome which permits undigested proteins to cross through the tight junctions in the in the intestines and enter the bloodstream where the immune system will then create antibodies to fight what it sees as a foreign substance, it is unlikely that drinking cow’s milk would create sensitivity to BSA. A study in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and nutrition has demonstrated that link between leaky gut and BSA sensitivity –

“When compared to both control groups, patients with cow's milk intolerance (CMI) showed a significantly increased small bowel permeability.” 

However, vaccines containing BSA protein, which are numerous due to the manufacturing process, will automatically bypass the digestive system and initiate the immune response due to their method of administration. This, after all, is what they are designed to do. When the person subsequently comes into contact with anything containing BSA or a substance it cross reacts with e.g. animal skin cells, they may have an allergic reaction.

Bovine serum albumin in vaccines can cause you to be allergic to your pet.

So, if you are allergic to BSA you could be allergic to your dog or cat and once a person becomes allergic to one type of animal’s epithelia cells, they can then become allergic to another due to cross-reactivity between the species. This phenomenon is noted in the Allergy Insider

“Some people with a cat allergy may also experience symptoms when exposed to dander, saliva, and urine from other mammalian animals, such as dogs, guinea pigs, horses, pigs, chickens, sheep, goats, rabbits, and hamsters. In addition, ingestion of foods such as milk, eggs, beef, and pork (as seen in pork-cat syndrome) may also elicit symptoms. This is called cross-reactivity and occurs when your body's immune system identifies the proteins, or components, in different substances as being structurally similar or biologically related, thus triggering a response.”

You will notice in the last quotation, mention of pork-cat syndrome. This is where people allergic to pork are also allergic to cat dander. Clinical and Translational Allergy says-

“It is a rare pathology, seen in patients sensitized to cat epithelium, which present symptoms suggestive of IgE-mediated hypersensitivity upon ingestion of pork meat. These symptoms range from urticaria with/without angioedema to potentially fatal anaphylaxis. “

Instead of blaming the cat, however, would it be more appropriate to blame vaccines considering porcine serum albumin is also used in vaccines?

RMBIO, who sell porcine serum, say this - 

“Porcine serum is ideal for use as a cell culture media especially in vaccine production.”

Since Portier and Richet’s work in 1902 it has been well established that any vaccine is capable of causing an allergic reaction. This is due to the very nature of vaccines and their mode of administration. Foreign proteins are injected directly into the tissue and end up in the bloodstream alerting the body to foreign invader. The body then reacts to invasion by the foreign substance, which can result in hypersensitivity and thus allergy.

So, remember, if you vaccinate, you may become allergic to egg, milk, gelatine, pork, beef, latex, shellfish, peanuts, soy, wheat, pollen or even your pet dog or cat.

In fact, the link between vaccine ingredients and subsequent food allergy has become so strong that maybe you should take note of what the  the author of an article in the Journal of Developing Drugs states –

“Given the scale and severity of the food allergy epidemic, urgent action is needed to change vaccine policy concerning vaccine specifications, manufacture, vaccine package insert documentation requirements, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation program.”