« vaccination pain overload | Main | Who should pay? »
April 07, 2008
Trading measles for seizures
After yet another long lapse, I post. As I am my primary audience, this does not bother me. I know how much reading and studying I do, how many patients are cared for in the intervening days and weeks. If you object, let me know.
An article in Family Practice News summarizes data from the KP Vaccine Study Center's Dr. Klein, whose analysis of the Vaccine Safety Datalink data for that week in February showed an increase in post vaccination seizures for MMRV (the combination of MMR with Varicella -chickenpox). There were 5 additional seizures for every 10,000 children who received the MMRV instead of the separate vaccines.
So how many seizures were there after the separate vaccines? Well, depends on how many days post vaccination and which vaccines you are asking about. The biggest cluster is at 7 -10 days post vaccination, with 9.6 for MMRV, 4.9 for MMR plus a separate V, 3.5 for MMR alone, and 1.5 for varicella alone. But the "expected number of seizures total after MMRV is 14.7/10,000 or 1/680. The increase that caught their attention was to 1/440 or 22.7/10,000.
The discussion is on whether administering these vaccines together is worth this possible extra risk.
But based on my previous discussions of vaccine efficacy, my question is whether they are worth it at all. Remember that these diseases are very rarely fatal. The vaccines are sold on the promise of peace of mind. But if one in 500 will have a seizure, up to 42 days after administration, how peaceful will the parents' minds be?
Clinical Iatrogenesis | By Robert Maddox | 04:46 PM