Is there an increased risk for febrile seizures after children receive a flu vaccine?
Several studies of children in the United States in previous influenza seasons have shown no increased risk for febrile seizures following receipt of seasonal flu vaccines. One study evaluated more than 45,000 children aged 6 months through 23 months of age who received influenza vaccines during 1991 through 2003 and did not find an association with seizures. Systems are in place to monitor adverse events, including seizures, after seasonal flu vaccines. During the 2010-11 influenza season, FDA and CDC have detected a small increase in the number of reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) of febrile seizures following vaccination with trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) primarily in children younger than 2 years of age. Monitoring to date has shown that when flu vaccine and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV 13) are given on the same day, there may be an association with febrile seizures in children aged 12 to 23 months. However, based on avai
