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Risk of Transmission Associated With Live Attenuated Vaccines Given to Healthy Persons Caring for or Residing With an Immunocompromised Patient

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Mini Kamboj  and
Kent A. Sepkowitz
Mini Kamboj*
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Kent A. Sepkowitz
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
*
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Infectious Diseases, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021 (kambojm@mskcc.org)
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Abstract

Objective.

Persons who receive live attenuated vaccine may occasionally transmit the vaccine strain to others. The risk of such transmission is a concern, especially for persons who provide care to immunocompromised patients (ie, family and healthcare workers [HCWs]). Since the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices released guidelines 10 years ago, several new live attenuated products have been introduced, and additional information on older vaccines has become available. To better define the risk of transmission associated with live vaccines, we reviewed the currently available literature.

Results.

A review of the medical literature revealed no major risk of transmission associated with any live attenuated vaccine. A theoretical risk continues to exist for the live attenuated intranasal influenza vaccine and the smallpox vaccine.

Conclusions.

The available data support routine vaccination with live attenuated vaccines for all household contacts of immunocompromised patients and for HCWs caring for such Patients. The benefit for immunocompromised patients of providing herd immunity against this group of potentially devastating pathogens outweighs the risk, if any, of secondary transmission.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 28 , Issue 6 , June 2007 , pp. 702 - 707
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2007

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