Family history of convulsions is not presently a contraindication to the use of pertussis vaccine.1,2 A recent report suggests that there might be an increased risk of seizures following DTP in individuals who have a "family history of convulsions." Unfortunately, the degree of relatedness was not specified in the questionnaire from which these results were derived.3 A subsequent questionnaire specifying relatedness only to siblings and parents also indicated an increased risk. A family history of convulsions was obtained in 17.3 percent and 16.7 percent of children who had febrile and nonfebrile convulsions respectively following DTP vaccine as compared to 4.8 percent in vaccinees who had non-neurologic complications following DTP.4

This content is only available via PDF.