August 31, 2001 – The controversy over childhood immunization has been enriched by a new study that should delight proponents of immunization. the New England Journal of Medicine has just published a research1 involving 340,386 children who received the DTP vaccine (dyphteria, tetanus, pertussis) and 137,457 toddlers who received the MMR vaccine (measles, rubella, mumps). The researchers, a bunch of specialists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Safety Datalink Working Group, calculated the incidence of febrile (triggered by excessive fever) and non-febrile seizures in these two groups and compared it to that of 202,099 children not recently vaccinated.
Analysis of the data found that vaccination did not increase the incidence of non-febrile seizures. However, the rate of febrile seizures was almost six times higher in young people who received DTP vaccine than in unvaccinated children, and it was almost three times higher with MMR vaccine. Be careful, however, this is a relative risk, because the absolute number of toddlers suffering from febrile convulsions after vaccination is very low, i.e. 6 to 9 in 100,000 in the case of the DTP vaccine and 25 to 34 in 100,000 in the case of MMR. What’s more, the researchers say parents could prevent these rare seizures by giving their little one Tylenol at the first sign of fever after a vaccination. If a convulsion occurs, which can be quite impressive, the most important thing is to prevent the child from falling or hurting himself; loss of consciousness and uncontrolled movements usually last only a minute or two. Parents should then contact a doctor to see if the child needs a medical evaluation to identify a more serious problem.
Another reassuring data: according to the follow-up carried out by the researchers, the seizures following a vaccination do not have long-term consequences on the neurological development of the children, do not make them more likely to have other seizures and do not increase not their risk of suffering from epilepsy. For those in favor of childhood immunization, this is further proof that immunization is the best way to fight infectious diseases, which in turn cause many serious health problems. However, even if their adversaries had not yet reacted to the publication of this study at the time of putting this text online, it is clear that the war between the two camps is far from any armistice.
Françoise Ruby – PasseportSanté.net
From The New England Journal of Medicine – Aug 30, 2001; Reuters Health – Aug 29, 2001; InteliHealth – August 31, 2001
1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Safety Datalink Working Group. The Risk of Seizures after Receipt of Whole-Cell Pertussis or Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccine. New England Journal of Medicine, Aug 30, 2001, 345: 656-661. note
