CINCINNATI (WKRC) — An advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has voted to recommend against the use of the MMRV vaccine for children under the age of 4. The MMRV vaccine is a single shot that protects against measles, mumps, rubella, and the varicella virus, which causes chickenpox.
The committee voted 8 to 3, citing a slight risk of febrile seizures in younger children as the reason for their decision. Febrile seizures, which are short bursts of electrical activity in the brain, can occur as a side effect of fevers brought on by viruses and some childhood vaccinations. Specialists at the Cleveland Clinic have noted that these seizures are generally considered harmless and do not cause long-term side effects.
Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a member of the CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee, said, “As a pediatrician, I would rather have two shots with a decreased risk of febrile seizures. So that’s how I looked at it. I wasn’t looking at an insurance issue or anything like that. I looked at it as, how do I keep the how do I address vaccine hesitancy? How do I if I have a choice for a child not to have a febrile seizure? So the discussion was, is it the same if we give them three and one, or can we give them all four together?”…