The majority of flu vaccines are made using processes that employ fertilized hen eggs. This process of manufacturing causes the vaccines to pick up small amounts of egg proteins. Even the nasal mist flu vaccine has as much or more egg protein as the injectable variety.

For most people, this is no problem. The majority of us pick up hundreds of times more egg protein from our diet than in a flu shot. Even excluding the obvious source, eggs, we get exposed to egg proteins from baked goods or foods processed with eggs on a regular basis. But there is a small, yet real section of the population that has an allergy to eggs. For those individuals, the flu shot can be a serious problem.

This is not a matter of one manufacturer against another: the fertilized hen's egg method is used throughout the vaccine industry. There are some different vaccine development methods on the horizon, however, that will use bacteria that have been genetically engineered to make flu vaccines. But until that day, the egg method and the egg protein in flu vaccines are here to stay.

The amount of egg protein varies from one vaccine manufacturer to another. If you are concerned about allergic reactions, you should talk with your doctor and request a vaccine with the least egg protein available. A skin test to determine whether or not you will have an allergic reaction to the vaccine is a good idea before getting a flu shot. If it is determined that you can have the vaccine, the best course of action is not to leave the medical facility for at least 30 minutes afterwards, so that the staff can observe you and respond promptly to any distress that you may have.

If your allergies are too severe for vaccination, there’s still a way to minimize the effects of the vaccine. You can have the vaccine administered in small doses over a period of time, instead of getting the full dose in one sitting. This, of course, should also take place under close medical supervision. In the cases of the most severe egg allergies, it will probably be safer to not have the vaccine at all and take antiviral medications if you are exposed to or catch the flu.