Return to Abstract Index
Title
The relationship between pertussis vaccine and central nervous system sequelae: continuing assessment.
American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.
AuthorAnonymous
Source
Pediatrics,
97:
2, 1996 Feb,
279-81
AbstractReassessment of the role of whole-cell pertussis vaccine as a cause of permanent neurologic damage is
necessitated by the 10-year follow-up of the National Childhood Encephalopathy Study (NCES) in Great
Britain. The findings of this study demonstrate that infants and young children with serious acute neurologic
disorders are at an increased risk of later neurologic impairment or death, irrespective of the initial
precipitating event. The results, however, do not establish a casual relationship between pertussis vaccination
and chronic neurologic abnormalities. The Academy reaffirms its earlier conclusion that whole-cell pertussis
vaccine has not been proven to be a cause of brain damage and continues to recommend pertussis vaccination
in accordance with the guidelines in the 1994 Red Book.