Nearly two dozen Americans experienced life-threatening allergic reactions after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, according to a new report.
Between December 14 and 23, a total of 21 people suffered anaphylaxis at the first dose, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday.
Of these patients, 17 had a history of allergies or allergic reactions and 71 percent of cases occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination.
With approximately 1.9 million photographs administered during that period, this represents a rate of 11.1 cases of anaphylaxis per million doses.
However, the CDC says the reaction is “still extremely rare” and urges the general public to receive the vaccines when they become available to help fight the pandemic, which has an average of more than 2,000 lives a day in the United States.
A new CDC report revealed on Wednesday that 21 out of 1.9 million people have suffered anaphylaxis after receiving the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine (above)
Of the patients, 17 had a history of allergies or allergic reactions and 71% occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination, but all are said to have recovered. Pictured: Dr. Nick Gilpin receives second Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Susan Grant at Beaumont Health in Southfield, Michigan, Jan. 5
The 21 people who suffered from anaphylaxis were between 27 and 60 years old and most were women, with only two male patients – although the CDC says this could be because more women than men received a first dose. of vaccine.
A total of 17 had a history of allergies to a wide variety of things, including tropical fruits, bee and wasp stings, eggs, shellfish, cats, penicillin and steroids.
Two of the patients had previous reactions to vaccines, one to a rabies vaccine and the other to the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Seven had a history of anaphylactic shock.
According to the report, the reactions took place between two minutes and 150 minutes after the dose of Pfizer.
Ninety percent of patients were treated with epinephrine, a hormone that relaxes the airway muscles, and 19 percent – or four people – were hospitalized, including three in the ICU.
The remaining 17% were treated in an emergency department. Of the 20 people with follow-up information available, all were evacuated home or recovered.
No deaths were reported.
With 21 reactions out of 1,893,360 first doses, this equates to a rate of 11.1 cases of anaphylaxis per million doses.
By comparison, the flu has a rate of one case per million doses.
“This may seem high compared to the flu, but I want to assure you that this is still a rare result,” Dr. Nancy Messonier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on Wednesday.
“I still believe that the risk of Covid makes it imperative for people to move on and get vaccinated as soon as it is available to them.”
Anaphylactic shock is a severe and life-threatening reaction to an allergy to food, medicine or even a type of material.
The immune system releases chemicals that flood the body, blood pressure drops sharply and the airways are narrow, which prevents someone from breathing normally.
Symptoms usually appear within minutes and include hives, weak pulse, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and swollen tongue or throat.
If left untreated, it can lead to death.
Allergic reactions to the shot with Pfizer were first observed in the UK when two members of the National Health Service (NHS) staff with a history of severe allergies suffered reactions after being immunized last month.
One of the workers, a 49-year-old woman, had a history of egg allergies, and the other, a 40-year-old woman, had a history of drug allergies.
Both wore devices containing epinephrine in case they suffered reactions.
A third patient also had a “possible allergic reaction”, but the British authorities neither described it nor presented an update of the patient.
Pfizer says its jab is not made with egg ingredients.
Following reactions, the UK Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a warning that anyone with severe allergic reactions to food or medicine should not receive the vaccine.
About 32 million Americans have food allergies, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. It is not known how many people are allergic to drugs.
In the US, it is recommended to observe those without anaphylaxis or immediate allergic reactions for 15 minutes, and those with such a history for 30 minutes.
“If you have allergies to vaccine compounds or related compounds, we recommend that you do not get vaccinated at this time,” said Dr. Thomas Clark, epidemiology leader for the CDC’s Meningitis Branch and Vaccine Preventable Vaccines.
Clinical trials also found that four people who were given the vaccine were diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a type of facial paralysis.
However, the study’s scientists said there was no evidence of the blow that caused the condition and that the figure was the same as the rate of Bell’s paralysis in the general population.
“Among the unsolicited adverse events, there was a numerical imbalance of four cases of Bell’s palsy in the vaccine group compared with no case in the placebo group, although the four cases in the vaccine group did not exceed the expected frequency in the general population.” the analysis was read.
In its report on Pfizer, the CDC said it intends to study adverse events reported after obtaining the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and launch an analysis in the coming weeks.