Seizures, convulsions & vaccines
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Vaccine disease
See: Epilepsy
When a vaccine or series of vaccines are given and a child develops a seizure minutes later or even several days later, there is no question that the vaccine triggered the seizure. Multiple seizures indicate a severely inflamed brain and emergency procedures need to be implemented. In many cases, the seizures can be silent, that is, they have other neurological or behavioral expressions, such as irritability or periods of confusion, rather than an obvious convulsion. (Blaylock, RL. JAN A 2003;6:10-22.) Treatment means more than just prescribing anti-seizure medications, since this only masks the true process going on in the child's brain, that is, severe brain inflammation and excitotoxicity. Vaccine Safety Manual by Neil Z. Miller. Preface
[2009 Sept] Two thousand schoolgirls suffer suspected ill-effects from cervical cancer vaccine Within four days of the third injection in March of this year, Stacey suffered an epileptic seizure, followed by 17 more in the following week. She has now been diagnosed with a brain injury, caused by inflammation of the brain, and is being treated in an NHS rehabilitation unit in Birmingham, which helps her with basic tasks like making a sandwich. Seizures are minimised by five types of medication, but her memory is badly damaged. The family has been given no explanation for how the damage occurred. Mrs Jones, 44, said: "She was such a lovely, happy go-lucky girl, now she is just a shell. "When we go to see her, she can't remember what she has just eaten for tea. The impact on her and all of us has been absolutely devastating. I feel she has been used as a guinea pig."
[2009 June] In Memory of Marina
McQuaig Marina passed away at the age of eight on November 26, 2008.
Marina suffered from a severe seizure disorder precipitated by vaccination and
re-vaccination.... "I was given a flu shot with thimerosal [a mercury-containing
preservative] when I was eleven weeks pregnant with Marina.....I avoided using
asthma medication because I didn't want to harm my developing baby, but then I
had to use it because the flu shot gave me oculo-respiratory syndrome and I
couldn't breathe.....Marina was born with cutis applaisia [improper skin
development] on her hands and feet, which to me is an obvious result of the
vaccine because the last layer of skin forms at around the eleventh week of
pregnancy.
At two months she was diagnosed with epilepsy but she usually
would never have more than one or two seizures a day. Because health authorities
do not withhold vaccination for something they consider such a minor health
problem [ie an evolving neurological condition], Marina was injected with all
the usual infant vaccines on schedule at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months. Looking back,
she did have reactions to most of the vaccines but we never linked it the way we
should have.
At 18 months, Marina was due for the seven vaccines
given then: diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, Haemophilus Infiuenzae B,
chickenpox and meningococcus. She had been free of seizures for a year except
for one possible seizure we didn't see but suspected two weeks before the 18
month vaccines.
We told our paediatrician and the health nurse
about this but the nurse told me they changed the vaccine and it no longer
affected seizures. At the time of the vaccines Marina had a cold. I kept asking
the nurse if it was all right to go ahead. She said yes - just give Marina
Tylenol for the next twenty four hours."
The result was: a two week stay at Children's
Hospital with one week in the ICU; unremitting seizures followed by seizures
almost daily, up to more than fifteen per day; Marina came close to death 60 hrs
after the seven doses. Unbelievably, public health carried on as if nothing had
happened."
.......because public health denies any connection, what's happened to Marina
will not go to 'statistics' to help prevent the same thing happening again. I
hope one day. if enough parents continue to tell their stories, our children
will be protected."
US Court Rules In Favour Of Family In MMR Vaccine Case Ben Zeller The US Court ruled [July 2008] in favour of this little boy Benjamin Zeller that as a result of the MMR vaccination received on 17 November 2004, Benjamin, suffered persistent, intractable seizures, encephalopathy, and developmental delay, and also this news footage http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=3176364383481038051
A study revealed that 1 in 175 children who completed the full DPT suffered severe reactions ("Nature and Rates of Adverse Reactions Associated with DPT and DT Immunizations in Infants and Children" [Paediatrics, Nov. 1981, Vol.68, No.5]) and a Dr.'s report for attorneys which found that 1 in 300 DPT immunizations resulted in seizures (The Fresno Bee, Community Relations, DPT Report, Dec 5, 1984).
[2009 Jan] To
Encourage the Others by Martin J Walker MA
How deaths from vaccine related seizures and febrile convulsions have
been disguised as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
"Moreover, seizures have been removed from the Table, although that the pertussis vaccine can cause seizures is uncontested (and warned in the manufacturer’s package insert)."--Marcel Kingsbourne
SIDS and Seizures by Harris L. Coulter, PhD
[2008] US Court Rules In Favour Of Family In MMR Vaccine Case Ben Zeller Jr Benjamin Zeller that as a result of the MMR vaccination received on 17 November 2004, Benjamin, suffered persistent, intractable seizures, encephalopathy, and developmental delay.
[2008] Unprovoked Seizures in First Year of Life May Signal Autism Spectrum Disorder
Testimony of Michelle Clements
Seizure Disorder after MMR vaccination
[Media 7/2004] Seizure risk with MMR vaccine slight, temporary
[Media Sept 2002, DPT--seizure] BABY HAS SEIZURE AFTER RECEIVING A COMBINED VACCINE (BOWEN)
Barkin RM, Jabhour JT, Samuelson J S, "Immunizations, seizures, and subsequent evaluation," JAMA 1987 Jul 10;258(2):201.
Baraff LJ et al (1988). Infants and children
with convulsions and hypotonic-hyporesponsive episodes following
diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis immunization: follow-up evaluation. Pediatrics 81(6):789-94
1988. Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine.
In a prior prospective study, we
evaluated the nature and rates of adverse reactions occurring within 48 hours following
15,752 diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) immunizations. Nine children had
convulsions, and nine had hypotonic-hyporesponsive episodes... No child had significant
neurologic deficit, although four had minor neurologic abnormalities...
Blumberg DA, "Severe reactions associated with diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine: detailed study of children with seizures, hypotonic-hypo-responsive episodes, high fevers, and persistent crying."Pediatrics 1993 Jun; 91(6):1158-1165.
Buchwald G. [See Related Articles] [Convulsive disease recognized by a court decision as a vaccination injury following smallpox vaccination]. Med Welt. 1967 Jun 17;24:1488-91. German. No abstract available.PMID: 4389310; UI: 69226516.
Cizewska S, Huber Z, Sluzewski W, "[Prophylactic
inoculations and seizure activity in the EEG]," Neurol Neurochir Pol 1981
Sep-Dec;15(5-6):553-557. [Article in Polish]
Coplan J, "Seizures following immunizations," J Pediatr 1983 Sep;103(3):496.
Cherry JD et al (1993). Pertussis immunization
and characteristics related to first seizures in infants and children. J Pediatr
122(6):900-3 1993. Department of Pediatrics, University of California Los Angeles School
of Medicine.
In a previous study in which we examined the relationship of pertussis immunization to the
onset of neurologic disorders during 1967 and 1968 and during 1972 and 1973 in Denmark,
there were 554 children with initial onset of epilepsy and 2158 children with first
febrile convulsions... The cause of increased severity of febrile seizures apparently
associated with pertussis immunization is unknown.
Griffin MR, et al (1991) Risk of seizures after measles-mumps-rubella immunization. Pediatrics. 1991 Nov;88(5):881-5. PMID: 1945626; UI: 92051053.
To evaluate the risks of seizures and other neurologic events following measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) or measles-rubella (MR) immunization, a retrospective cohort study was conducted among 18,364 Tennessee children enrolled in Medicaid who received MMR or MR immunizations in their first 3 years of life. One hundred children had seizures at some time between immunization and 36 months; there were no encephalopathies during this period. Four children had febrile seizures in the 7 through 14 days following MMR or MR immunization compared with 72 in the interval 30 or more days following MMR or MR immunization yielding a relative risk (95% confidence interval) of 2.1 (0.7 to 6.4). Although not statistically significant, this increase in febrile seizures in the 7-through 14-day interval following MMR immunization is coincident with the occurrence of fever following MMR immunization and is consistent with reports of other investigators.
Griffin MR et al. Risk of seizures and
encephalopathy after immunization with the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine. JAMA
263(12):1641-5 1990. Department of Preventive Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of
Medicine, Nashville, Tenn 37232-2637.
We evaluated the risks of seizures and other neurological events following
diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) immunization for 38,171 Tennessee Medicaid children who
received 107,154 DTP immunizations in their first 3 years of life. There were 2 children
with encephalitis; both had disease onset more than 2 weeks following DTP immunization.
There were 277 children who had febrile seizures, 42 with afebrile seizures, and 37 with
seizures associated with other acute neurological illness (acute symptomatic). The risk of
febrile seizures in the 0 to 3 days following DTP immunization (n = 6) was 1.5 (95%
confidence interval, 0.6 to 3.3) times that of the control period 30 or more days
following DTP immunization...
Huttenlocher PR, Hapke RJ, "A follow-up study of
intractable seizures in childhood." Ann Neurol 1990 Nov; 28(5):699-705.
Hirtz DG, Nelson KB, Ellenberg J H, "Seizures following childhood
immunizations", Pediatr 1983 Jan; 102(1):14- 18.
Jacobson V et al (1988). Relationship of
pertussis immunization to the onset of epilepsy, febrile convulsions and central nervous
system infections: a retrospective epidemiologic study. Tokai J Exp Clin Med 13
Suppl:137-42 1988. Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine.
A change in the pertussis immunization schedule in Denmark allowed a retrospective study
examining the relationship of the time of onset of selected neurologic disorders with the
time of pertussis immunization in two core cohorts of children. Records of 2,199 children
with febrile seizures were reviewed and a significant association between first febrile
seizures and the scheduled age of pertussis immunization was noted (p = 0.004)...
Murphy, J.V., Sarff, L.D., Marquardt, K.M.;
Recurrent Seizures after Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis Vaccine Immunization; AJDC,
Vol 138, Oct 1984; 908-911
Twenty-two patients with recurrent
seizures that started less than 24 hours after immunisation with diphtheria, tetanus and
pertussis (DTP) vaccine were retrospectively studied. The initial seizure generally
occurred after one of the first three DTP vaccine immunisations, and followed that
immunisation by less than 12 hours. Two of the 22 patients were siblings. Eight patients
had additional immunisations with DTP vaccine and four had immediate worsening of their
seizures. Of the 22 patients, only one was seizure free and stopped taking
anticonvulsants. Three patients exhibited normal development and 11 had severe
developmental delays. Based on these observations, we reviewed current contraindications
for immunisation with pertussis vaccine.
Stetler, H.C., Orenstein, W.A., Bart, K.J., Brink, E.W., Brennan, JP, Hinman,
A.R.; History of convulsions and use
of pertussis vaccine; Journal of Pediatrics; 1985; 107:175-179
Data on 2062 reports from the Monitoring System for Adverse Events
Following Immunisation, Centres for Disease Control (CDC) were analysed to compare the
risk of a personal or family history of convulsions in children who had a neurologic
adverse event after receipt of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine with those who
had a nonneurologic adverse event. Children with a neurologic event after DTP vaccine had
a 7.2 times higher risk for personal history of convulsions (95% confidence limits 4.5 to
11.5) and a 4.5 times higher risk for family history of convulsions (95% confidence limits
3.1 to 6.7) than did children with an adverse event that did not affect the nervous
system. Children with either a febrile or nonfebrile convulsion after receipt of DTP were
significantly more likely to have a personal history of convulsions that children with a
nonneurologic adverse event (P<0.001). Children with a febrile convulsion after receipt
of DTP but not children with nonfebrile convulsions were significantly more likely to have
a family history of convulsions than those with a nonneurologic adverse event. It is
recommended that pertussis vaccination be deferred in children with a personal history of
a convulsion until it can be determined that an evolving neurologic disorder is not
present. If such disorders are found, these children should be given the combined
paediatric diphtheria and tetanus toxoids (DT) vaccine to complete the series.
"The authors write: "there was no relationship between the time of the scheduled administration of pertussis vaccine" and these infections, whereas the accompanying table shows that there was a relationship. They then state that it "appeared to represent a change in the referral pattern" but gave no further details. Furthermore, in the "Discussion" section at the end, the authors went from "appeared to represent" to "was due to": "for CNS infections the change in rate was due to a change in referral patterns." This appears to be simple prevarication. The same occurred with respect to epilepsy. The authors write: "there was no relationship between the age of onset of epilepsy and the scheduled age of administration of pertussis vaccine," whereas the table on the very same page shows that there was such a relationship. "--Harris Coulter
Tonz O (1980), Bajc S. [Convulsions after
whooping-cough vaccination]. [Article in German] Schweiz Med Wochenschr 1980 Dec
20;110(51):1965-71.
Convulsions or status epilepticus in 11
infants after pertussis vaccination are reported. In 3 cases grand mal epilepsy persisted
and 2 children developed infantile epileptic encephalopathy (Lennox syndrome). On the
basis of our own experience, the incidence of seizures approximates 1:4800 infants
vaccinated or 1:12 800 vaccinations. According to a recent prospective study from the USA,
the incidence of seizures may be closer to 1:600 infants...
Cizewska S, Huber Z, Sluzewski W
, "[Prophylactic inoculations and seizure activity in the EEG]," Neurol Neurochir Pol 1981 Sep-Dec;15(5-6):553-557. [Article in Polish]Huttenlocher PR, Hapke RJ,
"A follow-up study of intractable seizures in childhood." Ann Neurol 1990 Nov; 28(5):699-705.Blumberg DA, "Severe reactions associated with diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine: detailed study of children with seizures, hypotonic-hypo-responsive episodes, high fevers, and persistent crying."Pediatrics 1993 Jun; 91(6):1158-1165.
Vaccinations and Convulsions Citations:
Court case--1998-Rachael Lampe--residual seizure disorder and subsequent mental
retardation http://www.law.gwu.edu/fedcl/Opinions/Horn/98/Lampe2.htm
Court case--Kristy M. Henkel (1998)--seizures, tuberous sclerosis ("TS"). http://www.law.gwu.edu/fedcl/Opinions/Miller/98/HENKEL.htm
Court case--Rachel Plavin ("Rachel")--seizures (case denied) (Aug 1998) http://www.law.gwu.edu/fedcl/Opinions/Tidwell/98/PlavinvUS.htm
Court case--Diane C. Lett (1998)--residual seizure disorder (case affirmed) http://www.law.gwu.edu/fedcl/Opinions/Turner/98/LETT.htm
Court case--Michael Hanlon (March 1998)--seizure disorder (case denied) http://www.law.gwu.edu/fedcl/Opinions/Turner/98/HANLON.htm
Court case--Rachel Leah Reiss-Plavin ("Rachel") (1998)--residual seizure
disorder ("RSD")---Rachel received her first Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus
("DPT") vaccination on August 4, 1989 at the age of two months. She received her
second DPT vaccination on September 15, 1989, In November 1989, Rachel was diagnosed with
Tuberous Sclerosis ("TS"), a neurocutaneous genetic disorder affecting the skin
and nervous system.
These cases included toddlers who had been called “very smart” and “impressed” doctors with their “intelligence and curiosity” until their vaccinations. Based on an on-line report, those nine cases were:
In some of these cases (e.g., Lassiter), the government actually attempted to use the child’s autism diagnosis as a reason to deny compensation for the child. Key realities about autism, vaccines, vaccine-injury compensation, Thimerosal, and autism-related research----Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D & P.G. King PhD