The administration of the MMR vaccine to egg-allergic children has an excellent safety record and may be administered to all egg-allergic children as a routine procedure in primary care.

BSACI Recommendations for Combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) Vaccination in Egg-Allergic children.

The administration of the MMR vaccine to egg-allergic children has an excellent safety record and may be administered to all egg-allergic children as a routine procedure in primary care.  

The MMR vaccine is grown on cultured-embryo-chick fibroblasts and is therefore generally free of hen’s egg protein. When traces of hen’s egg protein are found, the protein is highly processed and the concentrations are too low to represent a risk.

As with the administration of other vaccines, MMR administration should be postponed if children are unwell. Adrenaline should be readily available at the clinical site in all cases because anaphylaxis – although rare and unpredictable – can occur.

If previous vaccination (MMR or other) resulted in a severe allergic reaction (any breathing problems or collapse) then a specialist allergy assessment is required prior to repeat - hospital based - MMR administration, in order to exclude allergy to specific vaccine components such as neomycin or gelatine.

Recommendation of the BSACI Paediatric Allergy Group 2007