Vaccines and febrile seizures

Abstract

Vaccine administration is the second leading cause of febrile seizures (FS). FS occurrence in children is a serious concern because it leads to public apprehension of vaccinations. This review discusses the clinical implications of FS, its potential link to vaccinations and its impact on official recommendations for vaccinations in children. Vaccines such as the pertussis antigen-containing vaccine, the measles-containing vaccine and the influenza vaccine have been linked to FS. However, FS events are very rare and are not usually associated with downstream complications or severe neurologic diseases. Considering their significant health benefits, vaccinations have not been restricted in the pediatric population. Nevertheless, vaccine-induced FS could be a problem, particularly in genetically predisposed children. Therefore, post-marketing surveillance studies are required to accurately assess the incidence of FS and identify individuals who are particularly susceptible to FS after vaccination.

Keywords::

• febrile seizures
• influenza vaccine
• measles-containing vaccines
• pertussis vaccines
• prevention
• vaccines
• varicella vaccine

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This review was supported by a grant from the Italian Ministry of Health (Ricerca Corrente Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico 850/01 2012). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.