Non-specific immunological effects of selected routine childhood immunisations: systematic review
BMJ 2016; 355 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i5225 (Published 13 October 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;355:i5225
All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) reviews present the evidence from epidemiological [1] and immunological [2] studies in humans that suggest beneficial heterologous (non-specific) effects of BCG vaccination. Adding to this evidence, not included in the remit of the SAGE review, is the plethora of animal studies, dating back more than 50 years, that show BCG vaccination protects against a wide range of infections, including bacteria (such as Shigella flexneri), viruses (such as vaccinia virus) and protozoa (such as malaria). [3] Further, a number of studies in humans show a potential role for BCG’s recognised immunomodulatory properties in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes mellitus [4] and multiple sclerosis, [5] in addition to its established role in the treatment of bladder cancer. Kandasamy and colleagues’ conclusion highlights the lack of quality evidence for the “nature, magnitude, or timing of non-specific immunological effects after vaccination with BCG”. [2] It is worth noting that the same is true for BCG vaccine’s specific immunological effects; the immunological mechanisms underlying BCG’s protective effect against tuberculosis remains uncertain and surrogate markers of protection elusive.
1. Higgins JP, Soares-Weiser K, Lopez-Lopez JA, et al. Association of BCG, DTP, and measles containing vaccines with childhood mortality: systematic review. BMJ 2016;355:i5170.
2. Kandasamy R, Voysey M, McQuaid F, et al. Non-specific immunological effects of selected routine childhood immunisations: systematic review. BMJ 2016;355:i5225.
3. Freyne B, Marchant A, Curtis N. BCG-associated heterologous immunity, a historical perspective: experimental models and immunological mechanisms. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2015;109(1):46-51.
4. Faustman DL, Wang L, Okubo Y, et al. Proof-of-concept, randomized, controlled clinical trial of Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin for treatment of long-term type 1 diabetes. PloS one 2012;7(8):e41756.
5. Ristori G, Romano S, Cannoni S, et al. Effects of Bacille Calmette-Guerin after the first demyelinating event in the CNS. Neurology 2014;82(1):41-8.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Non-specific immunological effects of selected routine childhood immunisations: systematic review
Vaccines and the development of food allergies: the latest evidence
Drs. Commins and Platts-Mills were the first to describe tick bites causing red meat allergy.[1]
A case of a naturally injected allergen causing the development of allergy.
Vaccines of course are artificial injections of food allergens, causing the development of food allergies.[2]
The same team above, now describes their findings regarding food allergy and vaccination.
Changes in IgE Levels Following One-Year Immunizations in Two Children with Food Allergy
https://wao.confex.com/wao/2015symp/webprogram/Paper9336.html
Case 1 in the above study
“Case 1: At 8 months-old, her serum IgE values (in IU/mL) were total 61.4, peanut 13.6, almond 4.04, milk 3.84, egg 2.01, soy 1.6, and wheat 0.98, compared to total 44.1, peanut 11.2, almond 1.54, milk 2, egg 1.71, soy 1.62, and wheat 2.2 at 12 months-old. After the 12 month-old labs were drawn, she received the vaccines Prevnar13, hepatitis A, MMR, and Varicella. 3 weeks later, at 12.7 months-old, her IgE values were total 75.6, peanut 16.5, almond 2.18, milk 5.06, egg 3.4, soy 3.64, and wheat 3.75.”
The vaccines caused increases in peanut, almond, milk, egg, soy and wheat IgE.
Let's look at the food proteins contaminating the vaccines the patient received.[3]
Prevnar 13 contains casamino acids (cow's milk derived) and soy peptone broth.
Polysorbate 80 from EMD Millipore may contain wheat proteins.
Polysorbate 80 is present in many vaccines including Prevnar 13.
Polysorbate and other excipients derived from vegetable sources are present in many other vaccines and most suppliers do not have allergen information. So polysorbate and other excipients could also be a source of peanut and almond protein contamination of vaccines.
MMR contains chick embryo culture proteins and the vaccine package insert[4] has a warning for patients with egg allergy. Some egg proteins may be common to or cross react with chick embryo proteins.
Case 2 in the above study
“Case 2: At 12 months-old, the boy’s IgE values were total 21.1, egg 1.16, and peanut, milk, wheat, soy, cod, and shrimp <0.1. A week later, he received Prevnar13, MMR, and Varicella. 3 weeks later, at 13 months-old, his IgE values were total 23.8, egg 4.02, and peanut, milk, wheat, soy, cod, and shrimp <0.35 “
For case 2, again, MMR could have been the cause of the increase in egg IgE.
Clear evidence that food proteins in vaccines turn them into food allergy booster shots that boost the severity of food allergies. Children are taking longer to outgrow allergies.[5] How can they outgrow their food allergies, if we insist on giving them food allergy booster shots?
This latest evidence adds to the solid body of scientific evidence,[2] demonstrating a causal relationship between food protein contaminated vaccines and the development of food allergies.
References
1. Commins SP, Platts-Mills T a E. Allergenicity of carbohydrates and their role in anaphylactic events. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2010;10(1):29–33.
2. Arumugham V. Evidence that Food Proteins in Vaccines Cause the Development of Food Allergies and Its Implications for Vaccine Policy. J Dev Drugs. 2015;4(137):2.
3. Vaccine Excipient & Media Summary [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2016 Jan 16]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipie...
4. MMR II Vaccine Package Insert [Internet]. [cited 2016 May 3]. Available from: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedPro...
5. Wang J. Management of the patient with multiple food allergies. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2010;10(4):271–7.
Competing interests: No competing interests