No link found between routine childhood vaccines, aluminum adjuvants, and epilepsy risk
The study, led by a team from the Marshfield Clinic Research
Institute in Marshfield, Wisconsin, examined whether being up to date on
recommended vaccines or having higher cumulative exposure to vaccine-related
aluminum was linked to the development of epilepsy in children under age
four.
Analyzing a decade of pediatric health data from the Vaccine
Safety Datalink, which is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and several health care sites that monitor vaccine
safety, the team identified 2,089 children diagnosed as having epilepsy from
age 1 year to less than 4 years and matched them with 20,139 children without
epilepsy based on age, sex, and health care site.
Most participants were boys (54%) and between the ages of 1
year and 23 months (69%). White non-Hispanics composed the largest
ethnicity group in the study (40%).
No higher risk from following childhood vaccine schedule
The researchers used two measures to assess vaccine
exposure: how closely children followed the Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP) schedule for routine childhood vaccines and their cumulative
aluminum exposure from vaccine adjuvants, measured in milligrams.
Aluminum salts, including formulations of aluminum hydroxide
(AH), amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate, aluminum phosphate (AP),
combined AH and AP (AH/AP), and aluminum potassium sulfate, are commonly used
as adjuvants in vaccines to enhance immune response and have been a focus of
safety concerns for some parents.
Neither measure was associated with a higher risk of
epilepsy. The adjusted odds ratios for both measures did not exceed 1.0.
Children with previously established risk factors for epilepsy, including those
born prematurely, those with a history of epilepsy, and those with underlying
neurologic or medical conditions, had substantially higher odds of developing
the condition.
A subgroup analysis suggested that very young infants (1 to
2 months old) who received vaccines containing the adjuvant combination AH/AP
appeared to have about twice the odds of an epilepsy diagnosis compared with
those who did not, but the odds did not quite reach statistical
significance. “Thus, a follow-up study of medical record reviewed outcomes of
epilepsy and afebrile seizures in this age group may be warranted,” write the
study authors.
Mounting safety evidence as feds dismantle vaccine
schedule
One strength of the study was the high-level data gathered
over time across multiple nationwide sites, but the authors also note some
limitations, such as the follow-up period being restricted to early childhood,
inability to account for non-vaccine aluminum exposures, and the exclusion of
newer vaccines, like those that protect against COVID, respiratory syncytial
virus (RSV), and influenza.
The study adds to a growing body of evidence that supports
the safety of the childhood immunization schedule at a time when the ACIP and
federal health agencies, under the guidance of Health and Human Services
Secretary, and outspoken vaccine skeptic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., downplay vaccines and reduce
recommended childhood vaccines. Kennedy, in fact, in August
2025 demanded that a
previous study showing the safety of aluminum-containing vaccines be retracted.
“Overall, this study provides additional reassurance on the
safety of the childhood vaccine schedule at a time when vaccination coverage
has declined in some populations,” the authors write. “These results may help
providers communicate with parents concerned about potential risks of
epilepsy.”
