New Delhi, Jan 24 || Routine childhood vaccinations are not associated with an increased risk of epilepsy in young children, according to a new study led by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study, published in The Journal of Pediatrics, showed that the aluminum used as vaccine adjuvants also does not increase the risk of the neurological condition.
“Incident epilepsy was not associated with up-to-date vaccination status or cumulative vaccine aluminum exposure among children less than 4 years of age,” said the team, including those from the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute in Marshfield, US.
The study included 2,089 children diagnosed as having epilepsy from age 1 year to less than 4 years. These were compared with 20,139 children without epilepsy based on age, sex, and health care site.
The majority of the kids were boys (54 per cent) and between the ages of 1 year and 23 months (69 per cent). No higher risk following the childhood vaccine schedule was observed, stated the researchers.
To assess vaccine exposure, the team examined the schedule for routine childhood vaccines and their cumulative aluminum exposure from vaccine adjuvants, measured in milligrams.