[Adverse reactions to vaccines]. / Reacciones adversas a vacunas.

Vaccination is one of the medicine's achievements to control and/or eradicate certain infectious diseases. Vaccines contain antigenic doses derived from microorganisms and/or its toxins, besides they are composed of other substances such as aluminum, gelatin, egg proteins, mercury components (as thimerosal), and antibiotics; therefore, these substances can produce hypersensitivity reactions. The above-mentioned reactions can be evidenced with itch, edema, hives, asthmatic crisis, hypotension and even anaphylactic shock. Due to the importance of vaccination, especially in childhood, it is essential to know the benefits of vaccines, their impact in morbidity and mortality decrease of certain infected-contagious diseases, as well as the adverse effects and the allergic reactions to their application. As immunizations prevent natural infections, they might contribute to a free infectious environment that would allow atopic response. This paper reviews the allergic reactions to vaccines and their influence on the development of atopic disease.

[Uncommon manifestations of atopic dermatitis]. / Manifestaciones poco frecuentes de dermatitis atópica.

Atopic dermatitis is an inflammatory process characterized by a series of cutaneous alterations of typical morphology and distribution, with intense pruritus of nocturnal predominance, of chronic evolution, stational appearance, and with personal and family history of atopy. On genetically predisposed skin, dry and hypersensitive, the immune factors and other types are implicated in determining the abnormal reactions to multiple endogenous and environmental factors. The diagnosis is clinical, generally obtained by a group of signs and symptoms known as the Hanifin and Rajka criteria. The patients with atopic dermatitis can present with clinical typical manifestations, or minimized and localized variations as well, considered a stigma of atopic constituent. In some patients there can be observed clinical and morphological variations with special localizations denominated atypical variations of atopic dermatitis. The identification of these atypical presentations of atopic dermatitis leads to the differential diagnosis, with an early establishment of the disease's diagnosis and the appropriate and early treatment.