Risk of transmission associated with live attenuated vaccines given to healthy persons caring for or residing with an immunocompromised patient.

OBJECTIVE

Persons who receive live attenuated vaccine may occasionally transmit the vaccine strain to others. The risk of such transmission is a concern, especially for persons who provide care to immunocompromised patients (ie, family and healthcare workers [HCWs]). Since the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices released guidelines 10 years ago, several new live attenuated products have been introduced, and additional information on older vaccines has become available. To better define the risk of transmission associated with live vaccines, we reviewed the currently available literature.

RESULTS

A review of the medical literature revealed no major risk of transmission associated with any live attenuated vaccine. A theoretical risk continues to exist for the live attenuated intranasal influenza vaccine and the smallpox vaccine.

CONCLUSIONS

The available data support routine vaccination with live attenuated vaccines for all household contacts of immunocompromised patients and for HCWs caring for such patients. The benefit for immunocompromised patients of providing herd immunity against this group of potentially devastating pathogens outweighs the risk, if any, of secondary transmission.