Anaphylaxis following COVID-19 mRNA jabs may be due to non-active vaccine component PEG

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-09-18 01:00

International

Pfizer-BioNTech_COVID-19_vaccine_(2020)_E By U.S. Secretary of Defense - CC BY 2.0

A non-active 'carrier' ingredient in COVID-19 mRNA vaccines called polyethylene glycol (PEG) may be responsible for some rare anaphylactic reactions to the jabs, according to US scientists. Their small study of 22 patients who had an allergic reaction after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine identified 17 people who suffered anaphylaxis. Of these, 11 underwent allergy testing, and 10 of 11 reacted when exposed to PEG, suggesting it may play a role in anaphylactic reactions. They also found women and those with a history of allergies were the most likely to have an anaphylactic reaction to the mRNA jabs. However, the authors caution against extrapolating their results to the whole population, as it was a small study conducted at a single centre.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Stanford University, USA

Funder: This study was supported by grant U19AI104209 from the Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Centers, grant R01AI140134 from the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease SARS Vaccine study, the Parker Foundation, the Crown Foundation, and the Sunshine Foundation.

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