[Recurrence of febrile convulsions after the first diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccination and measles vaccination in children with febrile convulsions: a questionnaire survey in Takamatsu City].

A questionnaire about convulsions and other adverse events after vaccination was sent to doctors who administered a diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) vaccine (the first dose) or a measles vaccine between April 1, 1995 and December 31, 1997 in Takamatsu City to children with convulsions. DPT and measles vaccines were administered to 300 and 339 such children, respectively. Many of them had febrile seizures, the last of which had occurred before more than 1 year. Among them, 175 cases were administered with DPT and 180 with measles vaccine. There were recurrences of febrile convulsions after immunization in 2 (1.1%) of the cases given DPT and 3 (1.7%) of those given measles vaccination. According to the data of the Monitoring System for Adverse Events Following Immunization (the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan), the incidence of convulsion after immunization in healthy children between April 1, 1996 and September 30, 1997 was 0.4% after the first dose of DPT vaccination and 0.3% after measles vaccination. In comparison, the incidence was higher in children who had had febrile convulsions before more than one year. Especially, the rate of convulsions after measles vaccinations was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in children with febrile convulsions. These results suggest that the measles vaccination should be administered with caution to the children with previous febrile convulsions.