Alternative to whooping cough vaccine??

[Bells2307]

Hi all, I've found out today I can't have the whooping cough vaccine due to being allergic to the tetanus element of it. I'm currently 24 weeks pregnant. I'm very pro vaccine and was hoping someone knew of an alternative? I've tried googling single vaccine but couldn't find much

In the UK there is no single pertussis vaccination.

When you say you're allergic to the tetanus part, in what way? How do you know you're allergic to it?

Hi, thanks for the response, my whole family on my mums side are allergic, both me and my brother were tested as children. We have a severe reaction which includes major hemorragh and has caused near fatal results in both my mother and an uncle. We do however carry our own antibodies so cannot contract tetanus ourselves (again tested for) useful as we're farmers and have had animals with tetanus on the farm. Any ideas or info greatly received

Could a single vaccine be brought in from mainland Europe? A private doctor/GP may be able to arrange this for you.

Ah. That's very unusual! I think you're out of luck as there is no single vaccine, and all pertussis-containing vaccines also contain tetanus toxoid.

I'd make an appointment to speak to your GP or midwife and ask to be referred for a discussion with an immunologist. It is possible that you won't be able to have the whooping cough vaccine in any form (which is for baby's benefit more than yours) and will need to be extra cautious until baby starts it's own vaccines at 8 weeks.

Thanks, at the moment it's my community midwife that's said no, I've got a hospital consultant appointment coming up so will ask them too, it's really frustrating I've seen videos of babies with whooping cough and it scares the hell out of me! Im also allergic to penicillin and erythromycin again with the added hemorragh bonus but not quite as bad as the tetanus reaction, just praying my husbands genes might stop my allergies being passed on

If it's any consolation the successful pertussis vaccination campaign for pregnant women has reduced cases of neonatal pertussis massively, so with some caution and luck hopefully the risk where you are will be very low

If you're very rural the risk may be lower too (but I am no expert, just a practice nurse). Hopefully your consultant can reassure you.

Hi, I know this is an old threat but I was wondering if you managed to find the whooping cough vaccine without the tetanus element? I am also pregnant and allergic to tetanus injection and my GP is currently saying it is not available in the UK.

If you carry antibodies to tetanus without ever having had it, then maybe you do for whooping cough. You could ask them to test you, then you don't need to worry.

Thanks a lot, I will ask my GP if they can test for antibodies :)

@CaMac there is no single whooping cough vaccine available in the UK.

I would imagine testing for antibodies is inappropriate as you need the antibody boost to pass across the placenta for baby’s benefit, rather than your own circulating antibodies.

What happens if you have tetanus vaccine?