Vaccines and epilepsy

[Stollybolly]

Dd had Infantile Spasms when she was 5months old. This resolved very quickly with one course of ACTH. She is now 4 and hasn't had any fits since she was a baby and isn't on any medication. She also has Downs syndrome so has some developmental delays but is generally doing really well. I've been putting off giving her vaccines, she actually hasn't had any since her baby jabs as I've been worried about something triggering the epilepsy again. As shes due to start school soon I'm thinking of getting her a single measles jab.

Does anyone have any experience of vaccinating a child with epilepsy or a history of epilepsy? Did it have any effect on their epilepsy? I would like to hear if they have had no reaction as well adverse effects.

Really going round in circles on this one. I don't want her to catch measles but also would hate anything to bring epilepsy back. Thank you.

[DJAngel]

Strange that you had no replies to this.. just seen it.. we have a similar dilemma.. think you'll get some more responses from National Society for Epilepsy NSE website Parents Forum bit.. I am terrified of triggering ds's epilepsy which is well controlled theses days.. We're having a meeting with specialist paed in these matters as they are keen to get dd immunised slowly, one by one as she is regarded as having compromised immunity now having been very ill with swine flu at beginning of the year. They want to start with others but the only one I think she may need is Measles.. Terrified of dd getting that but worried the jab will trigger seizures or will just generally have a bad effect on her immunity if she's unable to respond as she should by creating anti bodies.. Anyway.. no easy answers.. It' s always a toughie to get into on boards on mn I feel as people have different views they express very powerfully.. For me it's a whatever you do you do it having carefully weighed up info and you grit your teeth and hope it's the right decision.. Whatever we decide may feel like the wrong decision still.. Best of luck.. whatever you decide..

[coff33pot]

From my childrens point of view they have had all their injections apart from whooping cough as it was advised I didnt give it to them due to the fact it affected me when I was small. I had the injections as a baby and they came in a course of 3. The first I was very poorly with high temp the second my mother had a hard job waking me up and she was advised not to give me the third. I then suffered with fits and was on meds till well into my teens. I had no other injections whatsoever and I caught measles and boy was I ill.

MMR injection: A friend of mines baby was due to have her jabs the same time as my dd and this was 10 yrs ago now. She had searched the net and it was found that a MMR injection called Priorix had very different ingredients as apposed to the normal ones docs used in the uk. We went to the surgery and said we were willing to let them have the jab provided it was Priorix. They did kick up a stink however but we just point blank refused the other brand. They gave in, ordered it and I was shown the phial with it in and the nurse agreed with me that the ingredients were indeed slightly different when she looked at them. Both my children were absolutely fine with this jab. Now one half of the surgery use this brand and the other half use the usual one.

I think you have to go with your own instinct in the health of your child. It is not an easy decision and very worrying. x

[Stollybolly]

Thank you for your replies it's interesting to hear others are in the same position. For a long time I felt that her chance of catching measles was low as numbers of measles cases where we live are low but the numbers are a little higher now. I don't feel she would cope very well with measles as she can get quite poorly with viruses but then what if she reacted badly to the vaccine. Not at all against vaccines but when your child is neurologically delicate it makes it a very hard decision :(

[Chundle]

Hi not sure if relevant but I have epilepsy and had all my jabs don't think it affected me but as an adult I've had numerous jabs for holidays including yellow fever and other odd ones and they haven't affected me at all but then I'm careful an take some paracetamol before just in case of a temperature

[turCENSOREDss]

Hi, just wanted to say that DS1 has had epilepsy since birth but didn't get DXed until he was 4 (nocturnal seizures so very difficult to diagnose). He had all his vaccines as we were being repeatedly told that he did NOT have epilepsy. In the event, none of them made the slightest bit of difference and he just carried on in his own merry little way. Mind you - his seizures (TCs) are quite brief and don't seem to be related to having a temperature. I am glad he has had all his vaccines as it is one less thing to worry about.

[bigbluebus]

Hi. My DD (now 16) has had epilepsy since the age of 2 & also has rare chromosone disorder. Has had all vaccines at appropriate times (except 2nd MMR - which she didn't have at all as statistically GP said wasn't worth it). She also has flu jab every year and has had pneumovax jab too. Never had any reactions or had a seizure triggered by jabs - more likely she would have had a seizure if she caught one of the diseases by not being vaccinated!
It guess it is always possible to have a temperature after a vaccination which could trigger a seizure (if your DC is prone to seizures) but if you are aware of this as a possible problem then you can monitor closely and give calpol/ibuprofen & keep her cool.

[crazymum53]

My dd has epilepsy (diagnosed aged 3) and we were told by the doctors at the hospital that it was important to keep her vaccinations up to date as she would be more at risk of complications if she caught an illness such as measles.
She has had all recommended immunisations including mmr and been seizure free following these. You can give calpol as a precaution if needed.
Really you do need to consider doing this as soon as possible as children are exposed to more viruses when they start pre-school or school.