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How safe is a popular pediatric vaccine? New research shows that the side effects of Prevnar, a vaccine which attacks a common bacterium, may be reason for concern.
How safe is a popular pediatric vaccine for pneumonia? New research shows that the side effects of Prevnar, a vaccine which attacks a common pneumonia bacterium, may be reason for concern.
Like drugs, after vaccines are approved by the FDA there are still lingering safety questions. Sometimes certain drugs, like Vioxx last week, show in follow up studies to be harmful.
This study showed that while there are some side effects to the Prevnar pneumonia vaccine, they are for the most part neither serious nor unexpected, effectively squelching anti-vaccine advocates. “There are always those radical people who don’t want to get their kids vaccinated, and say that the vaccines cause asthma and allergies. That can be scary and confusing for parents” Jamie Kurschner isn’t that worried about her newborn daughter getting the pneumococcal vaccine called Prevnar.
But there have been many who have questioned the side effects of the Prevnar vaccine. The shot, approved in February of 2000, has been alleged to be associated with seizures and deaths. But none of the evidence of the side effects of Prevnar, was obvious or strong.
Now, new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta shows the Prevnar vaccine is indeed safe. Dr. Andrew Campbell of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, agrees. “From my experience I’m seeing overall, less invasive infections, so less cases of meningitis caused from this bacteria, and less cases of what we call bacteremia or having the bacteria in the bloodstream. My experience with ear infections is that we’re still seeing some ear infection caused by pneumococcus, but it’s probably reduced,” says Dr. Campbell.
The researchers found around 13 adverse reactions with every 100,000 shots. The most frequently reported problems were fever, fussiness, rash, and injection site reactions. Many of these might not be due to the Prevnar vaccine, because the shot was given along with other shots most of the time. “These are typical adverse events that can follow vaccines,” Dr. Campbell states. “When you compare this vaccine to some of the live vaccines that we use, the side effects are actually much less.”
There were some observed side effects of Prevnar, including some deaths, seizures and other neurological problems, but the researchers say they occurred at a rate similar to that of other vaccines. “I think the most important thing for parents to do is recognize the value that vaccines have in society and that is to decrease the incidence of many of these illnesses that have ravaged society for along period of time and continue to ravage many third world countries,” states Dr. Campbell.
Many of the serious side effects of Prevnar occurred in children with a previous medical condition. For example, 80 percent of those having a seizure had a history of seizure. The researchers say the surveillance of side effects of Prevnar needs to be continued. The Prevnar pneumococcal vaccine is recommended to be given in four doses, at ages 2, 4, 6 and 12 to 15 months.
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