Octagam Drug Interactions

In order to infuse any product that may remain in the infusion tubing at the end of the infusion the tubing may be flushed with either 0.9% saline or 5% dextrose solution.
Live attenuated virus vaccines: Immunoglobulin administration may impair for a period of at least 6 weeks and up to 3 months the efficacy of live attenuated virus vaccines such as measles, rubella, mumps and varicella. After administration of this product, an interval of 3 months should elapse before vaccination with live attenuated virus vaccines. In the case of measles, this impairment may persist for up to 1 year. Therefore, patients receiving measles vaccine should have their antibody status checked.
Blood Glucose Testing: Some types of blood glucose testing systems (for example, those based on the glucose dehydrogenase pyrroloquinolinequinone (GDH-PQQ) or glucose-dye-oxidoreductase methods) falsely interpret the maltose (100 mg/ml) contained in Octagam 5% as glucose. This may result in falsely elevated glucose readings during an infusion and for a period of about 15 hours after the end of the infusion and, consequently, in the inappropriate administration of insulin, resulting in life-threatening or even fatal hypoglycemia. Also, cases of true hypoglycemia may go untreated if the hypoglycemic state is masked by falsely elevated glucose readings. Accordingly, when administering Octagam 5% or other parenteral maltose-containing products, the measurement of blood glucose must be done with a glucose-specific method.
The product information of the blood glucose testing system, including that of the test strips, should be carefully reviewed to determine if the system is appropriate for use with maltose-containing parenteral products. If any uncertainty exists, contact the manufacturer of the testing system to determine if the system is appropriate for use with maltose-containing parenteral products.
Paediatric population: There were no specific or additional interactions observed for the paediatric population.