Years ago I had to get a gammaglobulin shot (for tetanus, I think, but I don’t remember exactly) and proceeded to break out in large, scaly, itchy boil-type thingies (pardon my ignorance of medical terminology). When I went back to the doctor, he told me it was impossible to be allergic to gammaglobulin. Every other doctor I’ve been to, when they ask if I’m allergic to any medications, reacted the same way when I told them. So, do I just have the freakiest body chemistry on the planet? Or is it possible to actually be allergic to the stuff? And if not, why not?
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor.
Whatever you had, it must’ve been pretty serious for the doctors to give you gamma globulin. Gamma globulin is basically human blood extract with lots of antibodies, and it’s probably the closest thing we have to a cure-all wonder drug. That’s also why it’s very unlikely you can be allergic to it. The only known downside to gamma globulin is that it’s often too effective in its antibacterial properties, often killing off all the good germs in your body as well as the bad ones. When bad germs land on you after you’ve taken gamma globulin, they no longer have to compete with existing good germs and can often cause some serious infections. Perhaps those boils you got were a result of this side effect…
Immunization for tetanus consists of the tetanus toxoid, so your body will build the appropriate memory cells to combat it, not gammaglobulin.
Gammaglobulin is given to those who have immunodeficiencies, mostly IgG and cannot replace IgA or IgM. So, unless you have an immunodeficiency disease, you were not given gammaglobulin.
You probably received tetanus immune globulin (human). This is given to persons with a high risk of exposure to tetanus and no recent, documented immunization against tetanus.
The term “gamma globulin” was replaced ten to twenty years ago with the term “immune globulin.” Immune globulin used to be given routinely for prophylaxis against hepatitis A. (It is no longer needed for this purpose now that hepatitis A vaccine is available.) It is still used for people with immunoglobulin deficiencies. It is very unlikely to cause allergic reactions but I would not go so far as to say an allergic reaction is impossible.
“The only known downside to gamma globulin is that it’s often too effective in its antibacterial properties, often killing off all the good germs in your body as well as the bad ones.” There is no basis for this statement in fact.
Yeah (I’m referring to your user name), you’re right. I did get the shot for hepatitis A, not for tetanus. My uncle had it, so the whole family had to get immunized.
IANAD (I am a biochemist, but I never took immunology), but here’s a shot.
It may be possible that you were not allergic to the IgG itself, but to the serum in which it was raised or whence it was purified. I don’t know how it was produced when it was produced,but it seems to me there are two likely possibilities:
- From human blood;
- From some other mammal.
If it’s number two, and you’re allergic to, say, rodents or something, that might be an explanation. However, I would guess it’s probably number one. In which case, perhaps you had a reaction to serum like that which many people have to an organ transplant–wihtout lots of immunosuppressant drugs, their bodies attack the foreign substance.
Does anyone out there know with certainty if it’s possible for your body to attack foreign human serum (i.e. without blood cells and therefore regardless of type-matching)?
LL
Just for the gratuitous hijack effect, I have to say that gamma globulin was one of the most uncomfortable shots I have ever had, and being in the military, I have had a bunch. Before deploying to Desert Shield/Storm we were the lucky recipients of an injection of the stuff. Given in the rump, just like when we were kiddies, this shot was like being injected with cold peanut butter. It took an unusually long time from start to finish of the injection, and the whole time there was an increasing sense of pressure. When finished, it felt like they had somehow managed to place a golf ball in my butt cheek.
Wood…, You asked three questions. The answer are:
- probably, not. Statistically, it’s astronomically improbable to be the any…est.
- yes and no. You are not allergic to IgG (called gamma-globulins and immuneglobulins), which are part of you own blood. The preparation you were given, human tetanus immune globuline, has to contain not less than 90% of human immune globulin. The other up to 10% might be of animal origin, to which you might be allergic. It is also theoretically possible to be allergic to the specific anti-tetanus configuration of that IgG, or even to the specific subtype of the Tetanus bacterinm used for immunization. The last is purely theoterical, I do not know how exactly the IgG is prepared and how many types/subtypes of Clostridium tetani are used.
- see above.