What do vaccines have in them

Examples are the measles virus, pertussis whooping cough bacteria, and tetanus toxoid. Vaccines do not cause disease because the germs are either dead or weakened and the toxoids are inactive. Other ingredients in vaccines help keep them stable and prevent contamination of multi-dose vials by bacteria and fungi. Some vaccines have ingredients to boost the immune response to the vaccine. To keep vaccines safe and effective, they contain ingredients such as aluminum salts, antibiotics, and formaldehyde.

These ingredients have not been linked to disease or illness. Below are some of the ingredients in vaccines. Antibiotics — Antibiotics are used in some vaccines to prevent bacterial contamination when the vaccine is being made. Aluminum salts — Aluminum salts have been used in vaccines for many years. Children are naturally exposed to aluminum in the environment. Aluminum is found in the air, food and water.

People with a known allergy to gelatine should seek expert advice before receiving vaccines containing gelatine. Members of Muslim or Jewish religious communities may be concerned about using vaccines that contain gelatine from pigs porcine gelatine.

According to Jewish laws, there is no problem with gelatine or any other animal substance if it is used in a product that does not go into the mouth. Some Muslim leaders have also ruled that the use of gelatine in vaccines does not break religious dietary laws, because it is highly purified and it is also injected or inhaled rather than ingested eaten.

More information can be found in the NHS leaflet 'Vaccines and porcine gelatine'. This information is also available in Arabic , Bengali and Urdu. Sorbitol is produced naturally in the human body and also found in fruit and berries. It is commonly used as a sweetener in foods and drinks. In vaccines it is used in small quantities as a stabiliser. Sorbitol may also be present in one of the chickenpox vaccines Varilrix.

Sorbitol is usually harmless, but people with an allergy to sorbitol, or with rare inherited problems of fructose intolerance, should not receive vaccines containing sorbitol.

Polysorbate 80 is a common food additive used in several vaccines as an emulsifier to hold other ingredients together. Compared with its use in foods, there is very little polysorbate 80 in vaccines. The oral rotavirus vaccine Rotarix contains about a gram of sugar sucrose to give it a pleasant taste. This is about a quarter of a teaspoon of sugar. However, many of the items listed do not actually remain in the finished vaccine.

If they do, they will often be present in trace amounts. Antibiotics are used during the manufacturing process of some vaccines to stop bacteria growing and contaminating the vaccine. However, antibiotics which commonly cause allergic reactions such as penicillins, cephalosporins and sulphonamides are not used in vaccines.

Traces of five antibiotics may be found in some of the vaccines used in the UK. These are neomycin , streptomycin , polymyxin b , gentamicin and kanamycin. People with a known allergy to any of these antibiotics should ask for expert advice before receiving these vaccines. Egg allergy is quite common in children under 5, and much more common in children than in adults.

Around 60, children in the UK have egg allergies. This is because the flu virus is grown on fertilised hens' eggs.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that most children with an egg allergy can be safely vaccinated with the nasal flu vaccine Fluenz Tetra. This is because the ovalbumin content is very low.

The only exception is children who have a history of severe anaphylaxis to eggs which has previously needed treatment in intensive care. These children should be referred to specialists for immunisation in hospital.

Other non-routine vaccines, such as yellow fever vaccine , may also contain egg proteins. Those with egg allergy should always ask about egg protein content before receiving a vaccine. In the past, people with an egg allergy were advised not to receive the MMR vaccine. Advice on this changed more than ten years ago. The measles and mumps viruses are grown on a culture which contains chick embryo cells not on eggs.

This means that there is not enough egg protein in the MMR vaccine to cause allergic reactions, so children with severe egg allergies can safely receive the MMR.

Doctors have carefully studied this issue and confirmed that there is no increased risk of reactions to the MMR vaccine in children who are allergic to eggs. See the video about this on the MMR vaccine page under 'Ingredients'. Department of Health advice is that the HPV vaccine can be given to yeast allergy sufferers because the final product does not contain any yeast.

A tiny quantity of yeast protein may remain in the 6-in-1 vaccine Infanrix Hexa and the Hepatitis B vaccines used in the UK, but there is no evidence that this can cause allergic reactions. Latex natural rubber is used in the packaging of some vaccines. For example, the needle tip of the syringe may be protected with a latex bung.

This is a risk for people who have a severe allergy to latex one that causes an anaphylactic reaction , and they should talk to a doctor before receiving a vaccine.

People who have less severe latex allergies for example, a history of contact allergy to latex gloves are not at risk from latex in vaccine packaging. In the UK the product information leaflets of the following vaccines state that latex is used in the packaging:. Formaldehyde is an organic compound found naturally in many living things.

It is used in the production of some vaccines to inactivate toxins from bacteria and viruses for example, poliovirus, Hepatitis B antigen, and diphtheria and tetanus toxins. However, formaldehyde breaks down quickly in water and most of the vaccine is water.

The human body produces and uses formaldehyde as part of the process of metabolism. A pear contains around 50 times more formaldehyde than is found in any vaccine. Glutaraldehyde is a similar kind of organic compound which is also used to inactivate toxins from bacteria used in vaccines. A trace may remain in one of the Pre-school Booster vaccines Repevax. A number of different products are used in very small quantities to help keep the pH balance right while vaccines are being manufactured.

These products include:. For some vaccines, the active ingredient is grown in laboratories on cultures that contain human cells. Some viruses, such as chickenpox varicella , grow much better in human cells. Excessive exposure to formaldehyde may cause cancer, but the latest research has shown that the highest risk is from the air when formaldehyde is inhaled from breathing, and occurs more frequently in people who routinely use formaldehyde in their jobs.

There is no evidence linking cancer to infrequent exposure to tiny amounts of formaldehyde via injection as occurs with vaccines. These substances may be added as stabilizers. They help protect the vaccine from adverse conditions such as the freeze-drying process, for those vaccines that are freeze dried.

Stabilizers added to vaccines include: sugars such as sucrose and lactose, amino acids such as glycine or the monosodium salt of glutamic acid and proteins such as human serum albumin or gelatin. Sugars, amino acids and proteins are not unique to vaccines and are encountered in everyday life in the diet and are components that are in the body naturally.

Preservatives are added to some vaccine formulations to prevent the growth of bacteria or fungi that may be introduced into the vaccine during its use, e. In the manufacture of viral vaccines, the virus may be grown in cells. These cells need a source of nutrition, which in some instances may be provided by fetal bovine serum. Why is aluminum in some vaccines? Are other adjuvants used in FDA-approved vaccines?

How does FDA evaluate adjuvants for safety and efficacy? Why are antibiotics in some vaccines? Why is formaldehyde in some vaccines? Vaccine Ingredients. Each ingredient in a vaccine serves a specific purpose. For example, vaccine ingredients may: Help provide immunity protection against a specific disease Help keep the vaccine safe and long lasting Be used during the production of the vaccine Ingredients provide immunity Vaccines include ingredients to help your immune system respond and build immunity to a specific disease.

For example: Antigens are very small amounts of weak or dead germs that can cause diseases. They help your immune system learn how to fight off infections faster and more effectively. The flu virus is an example of an antigen.

Adjuvants , which are in some vaccines, are substances that help your immune system respond more strongly to a vaccine. This increases your immunity against the disease. Aluminum is an example of an adjuvant. For example: Preservatives , like thimerosal, protect the vaccine from outside bacteria or fungus. Today, preservatives are usually only used in vials containers of vaccines that have more than 1 dose.

Most vaccines are also available in single-dose vials and do not have preservatives in them.