Delaying Vaccines May Increase Seizure Risk

A new study has found that postponing childhood vaccinations may increase a (small) risk of seizures. The study revealed that giving the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine at 16 months doubled the incidence of seizures compared with giving it in the first year, and giving the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine at 16 months increased the risk of seizures almost 6 times. The study’s lead author, Dr. Simon J. Hambidge, a researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Institute for Health Research, noted that even with the increase, the risk is small — about 1 in 3,000 for MMR or 1 in 2,500 for MMRV. “It is far riskier to delay or avoid vaccination than it is to vaccinate our children,” he said. Via The New York Times Posted: May 29, 2014
–Alanna McCatty