DOES THE VACCINE SHOTS HAVE IN THEM SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU ELERGIC TO BEEF.

 DOES THE VACCINE SHOTS HAVE IN THEM SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU ELERGIC TO BEEF.

Alpha Gal allergy, medications and vaccines

Question-5/25/2018
 A few patients in my practice with alpha gal IgE, are very careful about avoiding all mammalian meat and also dairy and gelatin. They are very concerned about any medication or vaccine containing gelatin, but also having been made with beef products such as broths or mediums or milk protein which includes many medications and vaccines. Is there any data of alpha gal IgE patient’s reacting to vaccines or medications? How careful do they need to be? Answer: I asked Dr. Scott Commins, a recognized expert in Alpha gal allergy at UNC, to comment. See his response below: "The answer is that a minority of patients with alpha-gal allergy appear to be reactive to mammalian-based ingredients in some medications and vaccines. It’s not possible, yet, anyway, to test for this reactivity or relate it to IgE levels (this is an area of ongoing investigation). In general, if someone is able to tolerate dairy, they are very likely to be fine with gelatin and medications. If they lose tolerance to dairy, then I take it on a case-by-case basis."Best regards, Daniel Jackson, MD, FAAAAI.

 The αGal HyperAcute(®) Technology: enhancing immunogenicity of antiviral vaccines by exploiting the natural αGal-mediated zoonotic blockade-R B Mandell  1 , R Flick, W R Staplin, L D Kaniewski, A K Carzoli, R P Manuszak, J Wang, G R Rossi, N N Vahanian, C J Link

Abstract

The αGal HyperAcute(®) Technology exploits a robust zoonotic blockade to enhance potency of antiviral vaccines. Naturally acquired immunity against the common αGal epitope [galactose-alpha(1,3)-galactose-beta(1,4)N-acetylglucosamine-R (Gal-α(1,3)-Gal-β(1,4)-GlcNAc-R)] is facilitated by the loss of a key enzyme in the epitope's biosynthetic pathway. As human cells are devoid of this epitope, chronic stimulus from gut flora leads to high levels of circulating anti-αGal antibodies and the development of a robust immune pathway. As the αGal epitope is immediately recognized as foreign, the naturally acquired αGal immune pathway in humans serves as a strong barrier to zoonotic infection. The αGal HyperAcute(®) Technology takes advantage of this natural process to facilitate the rapid presentation of modified antigens to antigen-presenting cells, leading to a strong immune response. The evolutionary immunity to αGal ensures that the presence of αGal epitopes on antigens will lead to a robust immune response involving cross-activation of T(H)1 immunity, characterized by cytokine secretion and increased phagocytic activity, and T(H)2 immunity characterized by high antibody titres. αGal epitopes can be applied to antiviral vaccines by biological, enzymatic or chemical means. Several detection methods that directly and indirectly verify αGal addition are discussed. Enhanced immunogenicity (humoral and cellular) of αGal-modified vaccines is shown for several antiviral vaccine candidates. αGal modification of antiviral vaccine components leads to enhanced immunogenicity. The existing body of literature describing the utility of αGal epitopes as a safe and robust immunostimulatory and -modulatory agent in humans supports the basis for applying the αGal HyperAcute(®) Technology to the improvement of antiviral vaccines, both new and currently approved.