Toddler - itching at injection sites

candymycandy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Messages
2,791
Reaction score
0
Hi all,

Just looking for some insight/experiences with this. Since my LB (who is 20m) has had his immunisations (inc men b) he's scratched at the site of the injections on his thighs often making them sore. We've tried the usual creams (not from gp) and nothing alleviates it for him. I had found a study which showed an allergy to aluminium which is in some vaccines so this seems to fit. Going to take him to the doctors but concerned they'll not take it seriously. Has anyone else had this with their little ones?

Thanks x
 
You'll have to report it on the yellow card. Some doctors will turn their nose up and say "well I've never heard of that" but perhaps it's best to just express your concerns about him being itchy around the injection site rather than mention the aluminium allergy to start with. If the doctor isn't helpful try the vaccination nurse as they should know the most about them, so I've been told by the paediatrician x


 
Thank you that's really helpful, will see how dismissive the doctor is to begin with and go from there! X
 
How long ago did your LO have the injections?? I'm a practice nurse so give babies injections all the time, itching at the injection site can be normal as the skin has been broken and is healing but I wouldn't expect itching more than 7-10 days after the injections were administered. Also if your LO is scratching at the site this will prolong the healing process. If your baby doesn't have any other symptoms i.e. High temp, feeling unwell then I would just keep an eye on it a bit longer but as a mother myself if I was worried I'd go to the GP justfor peace of mind xxx
 
Thanks Colleen. The last jab he had was (men b) in June. No other symptoms but it really bothers him and we're constantly battling him to stop, can't leave him in his nappy alone for long or he really goes at it. Thanks I'll see what the GP says xx
 
Last edited:
Hi! I know it's a while ago.. but I'm just wondering how you got on with your toddler and the itching on the thighs? Our 19 month LO is exactly the same. He itches both thighs, sometimes really vigorously, and as you mentioned, we can't leave him in just a nappy either. It seems worse when he gets hot. Sometimes it seems to get a bit better, so I kept waiting for it to stop happening. I've now booked an appointment with the doctor on Monday. I got worried after searching online and finding various things about allergies to aluminium. Was the doctor helpful? How is your little one doing now?
Would love to hear how you got on.
Thanks!
 
Hi! Didn't get on very well with the doc at the time who ignored my concerns re aluminium allergy and thought it was habitual scratching. My lb still scratches on occasion though not with the same frequency or as vigorously as before. He has little light brown patches at the sites now where he's gone at them so much. Feel a bit bad as probably should've gone back to get a dermo referral but we were kind of hopeful he'd grow out of it as doc didn't seem concerned, and guess he has to a degree. Did you notice it after immunisations?
 
Just read this and realise it was posted a while ago, just thought I would tell you we experienced the same with our child. We were referred by our GP to a specialist to look at possible allergic reactions to vaccines as the itching was persistent and at injection site. I had also read a lot of research on the topic to figure out the cause of the symptoms and suspected aluminium allergy.

The specialist dismissed any suspicion of aluminium allergy, something she had never heard about before. I still demanded a test - but was not given one. We were discharged back into GP care with a letter pretty much saying it was just the mum worrying too much.

Considering my children and partner are English, but I am originally not, I brought my child back to my home country and got a specialist to do tests there. They came back positive for a reaction to aluminium, and in such a high degree we cannot have administered any more vaccines that contains aluminium. I have written a complaint and hope they will take you and other patients seriously when presented with persistent itching at injection site in the future. I suggest you keep pushing for a test or find somewhere that will do it (they can do patch tests on children with aluminium).
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your reply that’s really interesting and useful info. I’m definitely going to bring it up again with gp and push for a test x
 
The symptoms was really bad for about 1,5 years , then slowly fading. By the time we actually got the tests done there was hardly any itching (about 2 years after immunisations) Just thought I would add that so you dont think that less symptoms after 2 years means no allergy. It just means most of the aluminium is out of the body and so the reaction isnt as strong anymore.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
473,572
Messages
4,654,624
Members
110,012
Latest member
lauramayne90
Back
Top