According to information from a new Denmark study published in the Feb. 22 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, kids who receive a common vaccine are not at an increased risk of having a febrile seizure, characterized by a convulsion that is triggered by a fever.

The vaccine that was studied is known as DTaP-IPV-Hib, and is given to help protect kids from developing “diptheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b, a bacterium that causes meningitis,” all of which are potentially life-threatening conditions. The study also discovered that the vaccine isn’t linked to kids developing epilepsy, either.

“These data indicate there is no significant risk associated with the combined DTaP-IPV-Hib vaccine,” said Dr. Gary Freed, director of the child health evaluation and research unit at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who was not involved with the study. “There is no increased risk of epilepsy, and the risk of febrile seizures in the seven days following immunization showed no differences between those who were vaccinated and those who weren’t.”

The vaccine is generally given to kids in Denmark at the ages of 3, 5 and 12 months old even though the U.S. vaccine schedule calls for kids having their initial doses at 2, 4 and 6 months old. The U.S. vaccine schedule also uses a slightly different version of the pertussis vaccine. After taking the vaccine, a little bit more than 2 percent of those children have been diagnosed with febrile seizures before they were 18 months old. Medications are usually used to treat seizures in epileptic patients. One of those medications is Topamax.

Topamax has been linked to various adverse side effects including birth defects. Some of the birth defects linked to Topamax include PPHN, oral clefts, cleft palate, neural tube defects and heart, lung and brain defects. If your baby was born with any of the birth defects linked to Topamax after being exposed to the drug in-utero, contact the attorneys at Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Topamax lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your child’s injuries.