DRYVAX VACCINE CONTRAINDICATIONS

(THESE ARE GROUPS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT RECOMMENDED TO GET THE SMALLPOX VACCINE)

 

According to the Dryvax Vaccine Package Insert (smallpox vaccine), there are many groups of people who should not get the smallpox vaccine in non-emergency situations.  This Dryvax package insert is available at the Food and Drug Administration website at http://www.fda.gov by simply typing in “Dryvax Vaccine Package Insert”.

 

Groups that should not get the smallpox vaccine in non-emergency situations, according to the package insert, include:

·       Individuals allergic to components in the vaccine including polymyxin B sulfate, dihydrostreptomycin sulfate, chlortetracycline hydrochloride and neomycin sulfate.

·       Infants under the age of 12 months.

·       Children under the age of 18 years.

·       Individuals of any age with eczema or a history of eczema or other serious skin conditions.

·       Individuals on immunosouppresive drugs, or receiving radiation or systemic corticosteroids at certain doses.

·       Individuals with immunosuppression such as leukemia, organ transplants, lymphomas of any type, etc.).

·       Individuals with congenital or acquired deficiencies of the immune system, such as HIV, or anyone living with such person.

·       Pregnant women or anyone living with a pregnant woman.

 

In a smallpox emergency the vaccine package insert states, “There are no absolute contraindications regarding vaccination of a person with a high-risk exposure to smallpox.”  This means that even if you have a contraindication they would not recognize any of the above contraindications.

 

Some individuals who fall into one of those contraindicated categories believe that the vaccine would be just as dangerous for them in an emergency situation and would prefer to be placed in humane quarantine or isolation.