BALTIMORE — In a survey, just 26% of family physicians, compared with 71% of pediatricians, were aware of the known link between febrile seizure and the combination measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine in children aged 12-15 months.
Moreover, 18% of family physicians, versus 65% of pediatricians, were aware that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had withdrawn its preference for the combination vaccine in this population in February 2008, based on the increased seizure risk.
The MMRV vaccine, manufactured by Merck, was licensed in the United States in 2005, with an initial dose recommended at 12-15 months of age, and a second dose at 4-6 years. Postlicensure studies from 2007 showed that the risk for febrile seizures 5-12 days post vaccination was roughly twofold greater in children who had received the combination vaccine, compared with children who had received the MMR and varicella (MMR+V) vaccines separately.
The findings, presented by Dr. Christina Suh in a late-breaking abstract session at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, are based on a random sample of physicians in the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics membership databases. The survey was conducted via regular mail and over the Internet between October 2008 and January 2009. A total of 321 pediatricians and 299 family medicine physicians responded.
Dr. Suh, of the department of pediatrics at the University of Colorado, Denver, and colleagues, found that 43% of family physicians and 74% of pediatricians had offered the MMRV combination vaccine in the past 2 years to patients aged 12-15 months.
After being apprised of the risk data, 21% of pediatricians and 9% of family physicians indicated that they would give the combination MMRV to a healthy 12- to 15-month-old; 38% of pediatricians and 20% of family physicians would give the combination vaccine to a healthy 4- to 6-year-old.
The investigators disclosed no conflicts of interest.