Vaccinations

It is important to be aware of vaccines which are of the live-attenuated type as these may pose a risk to immunocompromised patients. The main types of vaccine are as follows:

Live attenuated

• BCG
• measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
• influenza (intranasal)
• oral rotavirus
• oral polio
• yellow fever
• oral typhoid*

Inactivated preparations

• rabies
• influenza (intramuscular)

Detoxified exotoxins

• tetanus

Extracts of the organism/virus (sometimes termed fragment)**

• diphtheria
• pertussis ('acellular' vaccine)
• hepatitis B
• meningococcus, pneumococcus, haemophilus

Notes

• influenza: different types are available, including whole inactivated virus, split virion (virus particles disrupted by detergent treatment) and sub-unit (mainly haemagglutinin and neuraminidase)
• cholera: contains inactivated Inaba and Ogawa strains of Vibrio cholerae together with recombinant B-subunit of the cholera toxin
• hepatitis B: contains HBsAg adsorbed onto aluminium hydroxide adjuvant and is prepared from yeast cells using recombinant DNA technology

*whole cell typhoid vaccine is no longer used in the UK

**may also be produced using recombinant DNA technology