Flu shot reactions vs side effects

[eden]

I am not a public health nurse but I am intested in becoming one so I did participate in a flu shot clinic. We asked people to wait 15 minutes after to observe for reactions.

One young woman came with her 6 month old, who had no previous reactions to a vaccine. The baby was angry ( understandibly) but within 5 minutes she was very flushed in the cheeks, the needle was in her leg.

The other nurse there was not concerned but would this have been considered a reaction or not? The baby didn't have any trouble breathing so seem otherwise distressed.

I have never seen this happen with my own kids so my question is this, is this considered a vaccine reaction, a side effect from getting the needle or some random occurance?

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

Hard to know, exactly. The timing does seem to make it related to the vaccine, but it seems to be a soft call either way.

I will say, only anecdotally, that my daughter got her flu vax at 6mo this year too, and was very flushed and feverish for a couple days afterward. I didn't bother taking her temp because I didn't want to know - she was that hot. She did get it in conjunction with a couple other vaccines, but she had previously gotten those same vaxes and done fine, so I do believe the flu shot (or the combo of the others + flu) did it.

[mariebailey, MSN, RN]

Flushing of the face is considered a sign of an immediate hypersensitivity reaction to vaccination, although it may be due to another cause. I would have looked for other s/sx of pending anaphylaxis, such as dyspnea, wheezing, swelling of lips/tongue/throat/face, hypotension, etc. It sounds like they did. I also would have, at a minimum, observed the infant closely for another 15-20 minutes and pulled a clinician in for obeservation if one was available. I hope the mother was told to watch for signs of adverse reactions and call her provider or dial 911 if they occur after she leaves. I would also tell her to inform future providers of the reaction prior to receiving future vaccinations, since subsequent exposure to the allergen may produce a more exaggerated response. I usually submit a VAERS report with weird situations like this, although I'm not sure if this would fall under the category of adverse reaction or not. I would leave it to VAERS to decide.