MMR, chicken pox: higher seizure risk with combo vaccine

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New research published in the journal Pediatrics finds that giving children the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and chicken pox vaccines in two separate shots reduces the risk for febrile seizures, or fever-related convulsions that are not associated with conditions such as epilepsy. The analysis was based on data for 459,000 children between 1 and 2 years old.

Researchers found that children given the two vaccines in one combination shot had twice the risk for febrile seizures compared with those who were given the two vaccines separately. But, as Katherine Hobson points out for the Wall Street Journal health blog, the risk for seizures still remains very low — the combination shot was associated with one additional seizure per 2,300 doses.

The total risk for seizure with either vaccine is less than 1 in 1,000 and febrile seizures are not indicative of more serious conditions involving seizures, such as epilepsy, but they can certainly be terrifying for parents. Based on preliminary data from this research, which was conducted by investigators at the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, last year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended either the joint or separate vaccines for children between the ages of 1 and 4, but stated that if parents don’t prefer one option to the other, pediatricians should give the vaccines separately.