Your Stories - Immunisation

Was her 2nd immunisation the trigger? - Marie, London, UK

Hi, my 7 month old daughter Rosie has been suffering from sever eczema since she was 5 months months old. The problem started after her 2nd immunization (I have not given her the third now) after I had started weaning and literally the day of her first teeth, so I am not sure what was the actual trigger. Since then she has been hospitalized 3 times. The first for a week due to the severity of her eczema. She was red from head to toe and we were told it was an allergic type eczema. We were put on nutamigen formula and Rosie was given blood tests for food allergies, all turned up as 0, even milk but we were told this does not mean anything. On top of her eczema, she had a strep and straph infection. Last week we were in hospital again as Rosie's temperature was very very high and she was red and blotchy all over, with severe itching, she cut her 3rd and 4th teeth during this time. Yesterday, after eating a pot of HIPP organic food (I usually make my own but did not on this occasion) she developed a rash which got worse, she ended up having a serious allergic 'shock' with extreme vomiting, swollen lips and hives. However this was 2 hours not minutes after eating. We are under a specilaist dermatologist at Chelsea and Westminster hospital and we go for check ups every week, when they tell us that Rosie is a 'strange case' - not much help. After yesterday's episode, we are now being referred to an allergist/immunologist. My worry is that Rosie is losing weight, she has been doing so for 5 weeks, it was only yesterday that the doctor on call in A&E reacted to my worries re this, she seemed to have lost half a kilo in days but she is being weighed again on Friday as A&E scales might have been different to the last ones she was weighed on. I have been prescribed a variety of emolients, steroid creams, antibiotics but nothing seems to work well. After the episode yesterday, Rosie's skin looks better than it has done for 2 months. Will keep you updated. (July 2005) Contact Marie

Second set of vaccinations and eczema - Sabine, Durham, UK

My son's eczema started about two weeks after his second vaccination. When the health visitor said that the dry patches in his face could be the start of eczema I didn't believe her. But it got worse - his skin became dry and later infected especially behind the ears, the neck and his cheeks. Eczema didn't stop there - it spread all over his body. I tried different kinds of emollients, used steroids and antibiotics once, stopped eating dairy products, tomatoes and strawberries (I was breastfeeding him for one year), bought cotton clothes, used Persil, kept him out of the sun. When he was old enough for scratching his skin I sew the ends of his pyjama sleeves together.

For a couple of months nothing seemed to help - but when he was about seven months old his skin became suddenly better. Today, with 16 months, there is no sign of eczema. He is eating everything which is not fast enough to escape and his skin needs no more special treatment... I know that there is still a higher risk for developing asthma or an allergy but at the moment he is OK and we are happy. There are really a few people who told me that their kids had the same problem with the same age.. My message for some mums and dads: there is hope! (July 03)

Chicken Pox vaccination - Imelda, Stanford CA, USA

I wanted to have you add this to the stories section under immunization - my daughter had the same experience. No one in my husband's or my family has eczema. My second child had the chicken pox vaccination, which I was hesitant about since I figure getting the chicken pox is part of growing up. About 4 weeks after the vaccination she got the first patch, four months later she was covered head to toe with eczema, and to add insult to injury, she got a full blown case of the chicken pox in spite of the vaccine. We've tried many dermatologists and they all say she will grow out of it. Not our experience so far, and it's been years. The hardest thing is watching her scratch in her sleep. I wonder if she's ever truly had a good night's sleep since she was given that vaccination. (March 03)

Vaccinations made my daughter's eczema worse - Kim, S Attleboro, USA

I was reading through the other stories and the story of the chicken pox immunization really caught my attention. My 2 year old has had severe eczema since 3 weeks old. We do know that Dairy, and Soy cause flare ups. We go in for the allergy patch testing next week. My daughter in Dec. 2002 had her rounds of vaccinations and the chicken pox immunization was one of them. I questioned the Dr. I did not think she needed it as my other children did not have it, I was very concerned about her reaction to this having such severe eczema. The Dr. assured me it would be better to get the vaccination then to allow her to possible contact chicken pox. It is now March 2003, she has not cleared up since the vaccination. It is worse then ever. I go through a jar of aquaphore every other day, we have to give her antihistamines every 6 hrs. She wakes up about every 20 minutes at night. I took her back in of course the dr. does not feel this is what is causing the severe flare up. But I am beside myself and in tears for my daughter. What can I do? Does anyone have an suggestions?

Chicken Pox immunisation triggered eczema - Penny, Rembrandt, USA

My son has suffered from eczema since, this sounds crazy, but since he received his immunization for the chicken pox. About 5 months after he received the injection, he came down with the chicken pox. A few months later, when the weather started changing, he developed eczema severely on the bottoms of his feet. We continue to fight with it. On bad days my son, now 2, crawls due to the pain he experiences. Our dermatologist told us to deal with it and with time it may improve. It is just hard to watch your child suffer. (March 03)

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