A Boston cancer doctor experienced the first serious reaction documented by the Moderna vaccine. He credits his preparation before getting vaccinated for keeping him from being intubated. Now he’s giving a warning to others – if you have allergies, educate yourself before you decide to take the vaccine. Come prepared.
Dr. Hossein Sadrzadeh, a geriatric oncologist at Boston Medical Center, is severely allergic to shellfish. He took the vaccination on Christmas Eve. This is the first week of the Moderna vaccine launch. Sadrzadeh had an allergic reaction just minutes after his vaccination. He had an appointment on Thursday afternoon and came prepared. He brought his personal EpiPen to the appointment. He used it after the allergic reaction started while being monitored by nurses at the hospital. He was taken to the emergency department to be evaluated, treated and observed. Friday morning he said he was feeling normal again.
Initially, Dr. Sadrzadeh thought that the beginning of his allergic reaction was stress or anxiety. He soon realized this was not the case when his symptoms started. His tongue and throat tingled and began to go numb. He began to sweat profusely, turned pale, and was very cold. He experienced a severe anaphylaxis reaction, the worst he says he has experienced since he was 11 years old, he said. The doctor credits his foresight for bringing his EpiPen with him for sparing him the need for intubation, his reaction was so severe. “I feel like if I didn’t have my EpiPen with me, I would be intubated right now because it was so severe.”
Dr. Sadrzadeh hopes to spread the word among other allergy sufferers about possible reactions to the coronavirus vaccines.
Sadrzadeh said he hopes his story will encourage anyone with a history of allergies to arm themselves with information before getting their vaccine – and bring their EpiPen with them if they get vaccinated.
He also recommended that allergy sufferers get their coronavirus vaccine in a hospital setting, rather than from a community provider.
“I really want people to take this seriously, people with severe allergic reactions. I want them to talk to their doctors, to their allergist. I want them to have their EpiPen with them when they have it at home and also let the person giving them that injection know that they are having a serious allergic reaction, ”he said. ‘I knew the symptoms. I had the experience. I was a doctor and I was terrified. Imagine someone who doesn’t have the information. “
He doesn’t want anyone else to have the experience he had. Sadrzadeh has offered to give Moderna a blood sample so the company can find out which ingredient in their vaccine may cause an allergic reaction in some people.
Boston Medical Center has released a statement.
In a statement, David Kibbe, a spokesperson for the Boston Medical Center, said Dr. Sadrzadeh ‘felt that he was developing an allergic reaction and that he was allowed to administer his personal EpiPen himself.
“He was taken to the emergency room, evaluated, treated, observed and discharged. He is doing well today. ‘
I am a little surprised that Dr. Sadrzadeh has taken the vaccine with his history of severe allergy. The CDC cautioned that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may not be suitable for people with a history of anaphylaxis for ingredients in both injections. The agency recommended that people with other allergies wait the standard 15 minutes after the injection before leaving the vaccination site. For those with an anaphylactic reaction to any substance, including another vaccine or injectable drug, an additional 15 minutes of follow-up is recommended. As we’ve seen with others, allergic reactions to the vaccines come quickly. Moderna reported no association between the vaccine and anaphylaxis. However, rare side effects are always possible with vaccines.
None of the ingredients in both vaccines have been identified as common allergens. But several experts have cautiously pointed to polyethylene glycol or PEG, which is found in both recipes, albeit in slightly different formulations, as a possible culprit. PEG is found in a wide variety of pharmaceutical products, including ultrasound gel, laxatives and injectable steroids, and allergies to them are extremely rare.
Dr. Kuruvilla said it remained possible that something else was responsible, and more research was needed to determine the cause of this small amount of events.
Dr. Kimberly Blumenthal, an allergist and immunologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, noted that anaphylaxis can sometimes be difficult to confirm without blood tests hunting for the enzyme tryptase, which is released during allergic reactions. It is essential, she added, that there are protocols so that similar cases can be further investigated.
People who use lip and facial fillers for cosmetic reasons are also warned about the risk of side effects. They can experience swelling and inflammation, as several subjects did.
A California dermatologist said the response was immunological, ABC7 reported yesterday.
Dr. Shirley Chi said all side effects were easily managed with steroids and anti-histamines, adding, ‘Your inflammatory immune system gets fired up when you get a vaccine, that’s how it should work.
“So it makes sense that you would see an immune response in certain areas where they see a substance that does not naturally occur in your body.”
The makers of the Moderna vaccine and the National Institutes of Health are considering conducting clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines in highly allergic populations to understand the number of allergic reactions and what causes them.