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General: Before administration of ADACEL, health-care providers should inform the recipient or the parent or guardian of the recipient of the benefits and risks of immunization, inquire about the recent health status of the recipient, review the recipient's history concerning possible hypersensitivity to the vaccine or similar vaccine, previous immunization history, the presence of any contraindications to immunization and comply with any local requirements regarding information to be provided to the recipient/guardian before immunization.
It is extremely important that the recipient, parent or guardian be questioned concerning any signs or symptoms of an adverse reaction after a previous dose of vaccine. (See CONTRAINDICATIONS and ADVERSE REACTIONS.)
The rates and severity of adverse events in recipients of tetanus toxoid are influenced by the number of prior doses and level of pre-existing antitoxins.
Syncope (fainting) can occur following, or even before, administration of injectable vaccines, including ADACEL. Procedures should be in place to prevent falling injury and manage syncopal reactions.
As with any vaccine, ADACEL may not protect 100% of vaccinated persons.
Administration Route Related Precautions: Do not administer ADACEL by intravascular injection: ensure that the needle does not penetrate a blood vessel.
Intradermal or subcutaneous routes of administration are not to be utilized.
ADACEL should not be administered into the buttocks.
Febrile and Acute Disease: Vaccination should be postponed in cases of an acute or febrile disease. However, a disease with low-grade fever should not usually be a reason to postpone vaccination.
Hematologic: Because any intramuscular injection can cause an injection site hematoma in persons with any bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia or thrombocytopenia, or in persons on anticoagulant therapy, intramuscular injections with ADACEL should not be administered to such persons unless the potential benefits outweigh the risk of administration. If the decision is made to administer any product by intramuscular injection to such persons, it should be given with caution, with steps taken to avoid the risk of hematoma formation following injection.
Immune: The possibility of allergic reactions in persons sensitive to components of the vaccine should be evaluated. Hypersensitivity reactions may occur following the use of ADACEL even in persons with no prior history of hypersensitivity to the product components.
As with all other products, epinephrine hydrochloride solution (1:1,000) and other appropriate agents should be available for immediate use in case an anaphylactic or acute hypersensitivity reaction occurs. Health-care providers should be familiar with current recommendations for the initial management of anaphylaxis in non-hospital settings, including proper airway management.
Immunocompromised persons (whether from disease or treatment) may not achieve the expected immune response. If possible, consideration should be given to delaying vaccination until after the completion of any immunosuppressive treatment. Nevertheless, vaccination of persons with chronic immunodeficiency such as HIV infection is recommended even if the immune response might be limited.
Neurologic: ADACEL should not be administered to individuals with progressive or unstable neurological disorders, uncontrolled epilepsy or progressive encephalopathy until a treatment regimen has been established, the condition has stabilized and the benefit clearly outweighs the risk.
If Guillain-Barre syndrome occurred within 6 weeks of receipt of prior vaccine containing tetanus toxoid, the decision to give ADACEL or any vaccine containing tetanus toxoid should be based on careful consideration of the potential benefits and possible risks.
A few cases of demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, peripheral mononeuropathies and cranial mononeuropathies have been reported following vaccines containing tetanus and/or diphtheria toxoids, although the IOM concluded that the evidence is inadequate to accept or reject a causal relation between these conditions and vaccination.
Use in Pregnancy & lactation: See USE IN PREGNANCY & LACTATION section for further information.
