HEALTH ISSUE: RUDE SHOCK

Vaccine may trigger early

start of epilepsy in infants

 Hong Kong: Childhood vaccines may trigger early onset of a severe form of infant epilepsy. but researchers say the disorder is caused by defective genes and lifesaving vaccines should not be withheld from these children.

       

         The researches said they feared the study would scare parents away from getting their children vaccinated but stressed the babies in the study would likely have developed seizures within months regardless of the vaccine.

         The disorder, called Dravet syndrome, generally begins with seizures around six months of age. These children have poor language and motor skills and difficulty relating to others. Up to 80% of them have mutations in the SCNIA gene.

          Anne McIntosh of the University of Melbourne's Epilepsy Research Center and colleagues examined the medical records of 40 Dravet syndrome patients with the genetic mutation who had been vaccinated against whooping cough, or pertussis. They said 30% of these children developed their first seizures within two days of receiving the vaccine but symptoms of their disorder were no worse than the other children who had their first seizures later on.

         "In about 30% of people, it appears that (first seizures) came on rather quickly after the vaccination. But the over all message is that the outcome to the patients did not differ regardless of whether the onset of the disorder was shortly after the vaccination, or later on. These kids already had that genetic abnormality, (so) regardless of the relationship with the vaccine, they would have had that disorder happen to them anyway," she added.

         "Essentially,there is no proof that people should not be vaccinated....from concerns about it causing the onset of that disease," she said.