Friday, January 21, 2011

Uptick in Febrile Seizures Tied to Flu Vaccine

By Todd Neale, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: January 20, 2011

The FDA and CDC have detected an increase in reports of febrile seizures among children younger than 2 who received Fluzone, the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine made by Sanofi Pasteur.

Fluzone is the only vaccine recommended for use during the current flu season in infants and children from 6 to 23 months of age.

The agencies are working together to investigate the connection, as well as the possibility that other factors aside from influenza vaccination could be involved, according to an FDA announcement.

The reports were submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

"Data from VAERS are preliminary and serve as a sign or indication that further investigation is warranted," the FDA said.

In the meantime, the recommendation for vaccinating children against influenza -- that everyone 6 months and older should be immunized -- remains unchanged.

The FDA statement noted that all of the children with febrile seizure recovered with no lasting effects and advised parents and caregivers to speak with their children's healthcare providers about any questions or concerns.

"Although febrile seizures can be frightening for the child's caregivers, nearly all children who have a febrile seizure recover quickly and have no long-term effects," the FDA stated. FULL STORY

On the other hand, nearly all children who get the flu recover quickly and have no long-term effects 

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