Vaccine reaction reporting: Adverse event following immunisation
Why it is important, how to report and what you need to report to SA Health regarding unwanted or unexpected reactions to vaccines
The Specialist Immunisation Service (SIS) is the only state-wide outpatient referral service for infants, children and adolescents who have specific and complex issues regarding immunisations. The referral criteria, outlined below, need to be fulfilled or individual patients can be discussed directly with the Allergy and Immunology consultant (see below).
The service is not intended for the routine provision of scheduled vaccines.
The purpose of the SIS is to provide for the health-provider, family and individuals a risk/benefit assessment which is evidence based regarding immunisation or re-immunisation for those who have experienced an Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI). If indicated immunisations are provided in a medically supervised environment.
The SIS is conjointly funded by SA Health and the Women's and Children's Hospital and is one of the services offered by the Department of Allergy and Immunology through the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. The SIS is part of a national network of similar services (AEFI-CAN) and contributes to national and international surveillance and investigation of children who experience an AEFI.
Infants, children and adolescents can be referred to the SIS for further assessment if they:
Please note the presence of an underlying food allergy, including egg anaphylaxis, is not a contraindication to immunisation with any of the scheduled vaccines including the Influenza vaccine. (see ASCIA Guidelines - Vaccination of the egg-allergic individual). These individuals should be immunised in primary care and not referred to SIS.
Referring patients to the SIS is done either through:
For more information on referring patients to the SIS contact SA Health's Immunisation Section or to discuss individual referrals, please contact the Allergist on call at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital at (08) 8161 7000 or the Department for Health and Wellbeing (08) 8161 8638.