Combined vaccine not tied to seizures in older kids

Although the combined vaccine against measles, mumps and chickenpox comes with a small risk of fever-related seizures in toddlers, a new study suggests that's not true in older children.

The measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine has been available in the U.S. since 2005. It combines the traditional MMR vaccine with the anti-chickenpox shot so young children can undergo fewer jabs.

But after its release, the MMRV vaccine was found to carry a small risk of fever-related seizures in one- to two-year-olds - the age at which the first dose of the vaccine is given.

Fever-related, or "febrile," seizures are short-lived, lasting about a minute or two.

Though the seizures are "very scary" for parents, "they are not dangerous, and they do not lead to later epilepsy or seizure disorders," lead researcher Dr. Nicola Klein, co-director of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center in Oakland, California, told Reuters Health in an email.

Experts now recommend that parents opt for either the MMRV or separate MMR and varicella shots for their toddlers. The separate shots seem to cut the odds of a fever-related seizure.

The MMRV vaccine combines the attenuated virus MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine with the addition of chickenpox vaccine or varicella vaccine (V stands for varicella). The MMRV vaccine is typically given to children between 1 and 2 years of age.

Several companies supply MMRV vaccines. ProQuad is marketed by pharmaceutical giant Merck and was approved in 2005 for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration for children ages twelve months through twelve years. Another MMRV vaccine called Priorix Tetraby GlaxoSmithKline has been approved in Germany and Australia.

But that has still left questions about the second MMRV vaccine, which is given between the ages of four and six.

In the new study, researchers found no evidence that the vaccine significantly raised the risk of fever-related seizures in those older children.

The findings, reported in the journal Pediatrics, are based on medical records for nearly 87,000 four- to six-year-olds who received the MMRV shot between 2006 and 2008. Another 67,000-plus received the MMR and varicella vaccines separately, on the same day, between 2000 and 2008.

Measles, Mumps, Rubella & Varicella Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella (chickenpox) can be serious diseases:

Measles

• Causes rash, cough, runny nose, eye irritation, fever.
• Can lead to ear infection, pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, and death.

Mumps

• Causes fever, headache, swollen glands.
• Can lead to deafness, meningitis (infection of the brain and spinal cord covering), infection of the pancreas, painful swelling of the testicles or ovaries, and, rarely, death.