Health Centres - FSME-Immun
How does it work?
This vaccine contains inactivated tick-borne encephalitis virus. It works by stimulating the body's immune response, without causing the disease.
What is it used for?
- Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis
Warning!
- You may experience a fever of 40ºC or more after receiving this vaccine, particularly after the first dose. This normally subsides after 24 to 48 hours. You should measure your temperature at regular intervals for at least 24 hours after you have been vaccinated. (Parents should measure their children's temperature.) If you feel it necessary, or if temperature rises above 39ºC, you should use a medicine such as paracetamol and other cooling methods such as cold drinks and flannels to bring the fever down.
- Tick bites can also cause infection with Borrelia bacteria, which cause Lyme disease. This vaccine only provides immunity against infection with the tick-borne encephalitis virus, and does not provide protection against Borrelia infection.
Use with caution in
- Allergy to the antibiotic gentamicin
- Allergy to the antibiotic neomycin
- Children
-
Disease involving the heart and blood vessels
- Diseases caused by the body's immune system attacking itself (autoimmune diseases such rheumatoid arthritis)
- Elderly people
-
History of fits associated with fever
Not to be used in
-
Allergy to eggs
- Children under three years of age
- Sudden feverish illness
This medicine should not be used if you are allergic to one or any of its ingredients. Please inform your doctor or pharmacist if you have previously experienced such an allergy.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Certain medicines should not be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding. However, other medicines may be safely used in pregnancy or breastfeeding providing the benefits to the mother outweigh the risks to the unborn baby. Always inform your doctor if you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, before using any medicine.
- There is no information available on the safety of this medicine during pregnancy and breastfeeding. It should be used with caution, and only if the expected benefit to the mother outweighs any potential risk to the infant. Seek medical advice from your doctor.
Side effects
Medicines and their possible side effects can affect individual people in different ways. The following are some of the side effects that are known to be associated with this medicine. Because a side effect is stated here, it does not mean that all people using this medicine will experience that or any side effect.
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Visual disturbances
- Abnormal heart beats (arrhythmias)
- Fever (pyrexia)
- Dizziness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Swollen glands (lymph nodes)
- Pain in the joints (arthralgia)
- Pain in the muscles (myalgia)
- A general feeling of being unwell (malaise)
- Rash or itching
- Pain, swelling or redness at injection site
The side effects listed above may not include all of the side effects reported by the drug's manufacturer.
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