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This article is from the Childhood Vaccinations FAQ, by Lynn Gazis-Sax lynng@alsirat.com with numerous contributions by others.

3c.5 What are some of the risks of the measles vaccine?

There is a small chance of complications similar to the complications
of measles (pneumonia, encephalitis, SSPE). Information on the
frequency of these complications is included in the answer to

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• prev: 3c.4 How long does the measles vaccine last?
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• next: 3c.2. There is some risk of anaphylaxis. This risk is low; from the time that VAERS was instituted in 1990 till the publication of Update: Vaccine Side Effects, Adverse Reactions, Contraindications, and Precautions by ACIP in 1996, >70 million doses of MMR vaccine had been distributed in the US, and only 33 cases of anaphylactic reactions had been reported to VAERS. It has been traditionally believed that this risk is mainly for people allergic to eggs or neomycin. However, recent studies indicate that anaphylactic reactions are not associated with egg allergies, but with some other component of the vaccine. There have been some case reports, in the US and Japan, of anaphylactic reactions to the MMR vaccine in people with an anaphylactic sensitivity to gelatin.