(KDRTV)-Physicians and scientists are closely monitoring reports of a suspicious rare allergic reaction to Pfizer vaccine in shots administered to healthcare workers in the first batch of vaccination in the US and the UK.
Reports are surfacing that a growing number of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine recipients are developing what seems to be a PEG(polyethylene glycol) related allergy-producing anaphylaxis, a serious life-threatening condition that starts with rashes, lowers blood pressure, difficulties breathing, and faster heart rate, in some very extreme cases death.
These reports are now circulating and increasing stress and anxiety in people with underlying conditions and allergies reaction history, pushing people further away from the two vaccines available right now in hopes for a better one in the future that does account for allergic reactions.
There are now 8 reaction cases in total, 6 in the US and 2 in the UK, none are life-threatening but no case was spotted at the right time to be fully diagnosed and medically assessed.
In vaccines, clinical trials, the sample studied by Pfizer and Moderna, might have been underrepresenting people with adverse reactions to other vaccines and people with reactions to certain foods and drugs.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases are investigating the rare occurrences and exercising patience and due diligence in regards to confirming whether it’s related to PEG or not, Branch Chief of Allergy at NIAID opened up about the matter in a statement ‘Until we know there is truly a PEG story, we need to be very careful in talking about that as a done deal’. The institute is convening along with the FDA and independent scientists and physicians, representatives from Pfizer and Moderna to look closely and follow vaccine administration in hopes of catching a fresh case to analyze.
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Allergic reactions are common in all kinds of vaccines due to a certain biological configuration in a person’s immunity system or medical history, a person’s body might reject the antibodies produced by the vaccine for a magnitude of reasons. Anaphylaxis for example can occur in individuals with high levels of PEG antibodies, in a study conducted by Samuel Lai in 2016, 72% of people have at least some antibodies against PEGs and up to 7% a level high enough to possibly produce an anaphylaxis reaction.
Scientists are urging people to get vaccinated because the rewards outweigh the risks, now that the risk of allergy is well known, doctors and medical staff will be ready to handle any adverse reactions on the spot and there should be no exaggeration concerning the matter. The levels of PEG in the vaccines are much lower than in other products, say for example shampoo or toothpaste, and it works exclusively on the RNA messenger layer to enhance packaging and delivery of the vaccine on a nanoparticle level.
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