Study: Kids who react to shots still safe

Children who suffer fever and seizures after two common shots seem to be at no greater long-term risk for disabilities such as epilepsy or autism, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study's lead author and lead co-author are Seattle researchers for Group Health Cooperative, a Northwest insurer.

Researchers examined medical records of nearly 680,000 children in four West Coast health insurance plans and found 41 children who had a fever-related seizure soon after a DTP or MMR shot.

The shots protect against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

"Our study is reassuring. We did not find any greater negative outcomes in children with febrile (fever-related) seizures following vaccination," said co-author Dr. Robert Davis of Group Health and the University of Washington's departments of pediatrics and epidemiology.

Researchers followed the children over a seven-year period.

The MMR and a new, safer form of the DTP are required of Washington and Idaho schoolchildren unless parents seek a medical, personal or religious exemption. The DTP has been replaced by the safer DTaP, which uses only part of the pertussis bacteria, rather than the whole cell.

Some parents oppose routine immunizations, fearing lasting, adverse effects. Public health experts say the benefits of disease prevention outweigh the risks.

The new, larger study quantified the risk of seizure as six times higher than usual on the day of the DTP vaccine, and three times higher than usual eight to 14 days after the MMR vaccine. This translates into six to nine additional seizures for every 100,000 children getting the DTP shot and 25 to 34 for those getting MMR.

A febrile seizure can be a frightening experience for a parent, Davis said. It lasts for one or two minutes. The child's arms and legs jerk and the child's eyes roll back. Afterward, the child becomes very sleepy.

"Even after it resolves, parents can wonder if there will be any long-term effects," Davis said.

The link between the vaccines and seizures has been reported in previous studies.

Parents can reduce the risk by giving an aspirin-free pain reliever, such as Tylenol, following vaccinations.

The study was the largest to date on the subject. It was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The four health plans involved were Group Health Cooperative and three Kaiser Permanente HMOs. Medical records studied were stripped of names and any other identifying information.

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