Rotavirus, a common cause of vomiting and diarrhea in children, can lead to seizures in some. But a new study suggests that vaccinating against rotavirus might reduce the risk of related seizures. This is according to research published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other institutions undertook a retrospective analysis involving nearly a quarter of a million children in the US born between March 2006 and November 2009.
All of the children were enrolled in a project that collects data for vaccine safety research, called the Vaccine Safety Datalink. Of these children, 74.4% were fully vaccinated against rotavirus and 25.6% were not.
Led by Daniel C. Payne from the CDC, the team discovered that the children who were vaccinated against rotavirus had a 20% reduced risk of hospitalizations and emergency department visits that were related to seizures in the year following vaccination, compared with the unvaccinated children.
The researchers say that the most probable explanation for the protective association is that "vaccination directly prevents systemic rotavirus infection, including extra-intestinal complications involving the central nervous system."
No comments:
Post a Comment