Background: The safety of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has always been doubtful due to its side effects reported over time. Current criticism revolves around the fact that the trials were too small and did not follow up on children involved in the study for long enough periods to determine if there would be any potential hazards involved. Objective: To assess the risks of seizures and other neurological events following MMR immunization in children up to 16 years of age. Methodology: The data was collected from retrospective and prospective cohort studies carried out worldwide on around 8 million children who received MMR immunization up to their 16 years of life. About 110 published articles (from 1991 to 2014), satisfied the inclusion criteria and 38 of them were included in the review. Main Results: MMR immunization was associated with consistent increase in febrile seizures in the 7- through 14-day interval. Delaying MMR vaccine past 15 months of age resulted in a higher risk of seizures. The long-term rate of epilepsy was not increased in children who had febrile seizures following vaccination compared with children who had febrile seizures of a different etiology. The reports on other neurological disorders included the rare adverse events of aseptic meningitis associated with a form of the MMR vaccine containing the Urabe mumps strain, and very few cases of encephalitis, convulsions, Guillain-Barre syndrome and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The most commonly occurring adverse reaction was syncopal fit. Conclusion: Measles, mumps, and rubella are all very serious illnesses and can have complications leading to lifetime disability or even death. The long-term effects of the MMR vaccine are still in question, but on comparing its risks and benefits, the benefits far outweigh the incidence of serious adverse events associated with immunization. Changes in the vaccine formulation may help to reduce side-effects, and further advances may help make current vaccines even safer.
| Published in | Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 3, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24 |
| Page(s) | 81-86 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Immunization, MMR, Neurological Disorders
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APA Style
Neetu Batra. (2015). Neurological Disorders Associated with Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination- a Review. Science Journal of Public Health, 3(1), 81-86. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24
ACS Style
Neetu Batra. Neurological Disorders Associated with Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination- a Review. Sci. J. Public Health 2015, 3(1), 81-86. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24
AMA Style
Neetu Batra. Neurological Disorders Associated with Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination- a Review. Sci J Public Health. 2015;3(1):81-86. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24
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Download@article{10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24,
author = {Neetu Batra},
title = {Neurological Disorders Associated with Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination- a Review},
journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
volume = {3},
number = {1},
pages = {81-86},
doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20150301.24},
abstract = {Background: The safety of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has always been doubtful due to its side effects reported over time. Current criticism revolves around the fact that the trials were too small and did not follow up on children involved in the study for long enough periods to determine if there would be any potential hazards involved. Objective: To assess the risks of seizures and other neurological events following MMR immunization in children up to 16 years of age. Methodology: The data was collected from retrospective and prospective cohort studies carried out worldwide on around 8 million children who received MMR immunization up to their 16 years of life. About 110 published articles (from 1991 to 2014), satisfied the inclusion criteria and 38 of them were included in the review. Main Results: MMR immunization was associated with consistent increase in febrile seizures in the 7- through 14-day interval. Delaying MMR vaccine past 15 months of age resulted in a higher risk of seizures. The long-term rate of epilepsy was not increased in children who had febrile seizures following vaccination compared with children who had febrile seizures of a different etiology. The reports on other neurological disorders included the rare adverse events of aseptic meningitis associated with a form of the MMR vaccine containing the Urabe mumps strain, and very few cases of encephalitis, convulsions, Guillain-Barre syndrome and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The most commonly occurring adverse reaction was syncopal fit. Conclusion: Measles, mumps, and rubella are all very serious illnesses and can have complications leading to lifetime disability or even death. The long-term effects of the MMR vaccine are still in question, but on comparing its risks and benefits, the benefits far outweigh the incidence of serious adverse events associated with immunization. Changes in the vaccine formulation may help to reduce side-effects, and further advances may help make current vaccines even safer.},
year = {2015}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Neurological Disorders Associated with Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination- a Review AU - Neetu Batra Y1 - 2015/01/28 PY - 2015 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24 DO - 10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24 T2 - Science Journal of Public Health JF - Science Journal of Public Health JO - Science Journal of Public Health SP - 81 EP - 86 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-7950 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150301.24 AB - Background: The safety of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has always been doubtful due to its side effects reported over time. Current criticism revolves around the fact that the trials were too small and did not follow up on children involved in the study for long enough periods to determine if there would be any potential hazards involved. Objective: To assess the risks of seizures and other neurological events following MMR immunization in children up to 16 years of age. Methodology: The data was collected from retrospective and prospective cohort studies carried out worldwide on around 8 million children who received MMR immunization up to their 16 years of life. About 110 published articles (from 1991 to 2014), satisfied the inclusion criteria and 38 of them were included in the review. Main Results: MMR immunization was associated with consistent increase in febrile seizures in the 7- through 14-day interval. Delaying MMR vaccine past 15 months of age resulted in a higher risk of seizures. The long-term rate of epilepsy was not increased in children who had febrile seizures following vaccination compared with children who had febrile seizures of a different etiology. The reports on other neurological disorders included the rare adverse events of aseptic meningitis associated with a form of the MMR vaccine containing the Urabe mumps strain, and very few cases of encephalitis, convulsions, Guillain-Barre syndrome and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The most commonly occurring adverse reaction was syncopal fit. Conclusion: Measles, mumps, and rubella are all very serious illnesses and can have complications leading to lifetime disability or even death. The long-term effects of the MMR vaccine are still in question, but on comparing its risks and benefits, the benefits far outweigh the incidence of serious adverse events associated with immunization. Changes in the vaccine formulation may help to reduce side-effects, and further advances may help make current vaccines even safer. VL - 3 IS - 1 ER -
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