The Claim:
Steve Kirsch, the inventor of the optical mouse, claims that vaccinating children against COVID greatly increases their risk of seizures.
The Facts:
In the study where the claim is made, researchers observed over 620,000 COVID vaccine administrations among children aged 2 to 5. They found that the mRNA-1273 vaccine was associated with a higher incidence of febrile seizures within one day after vaccination compared to the control period, while the BNT162b2 vaccine did not show a significant increase in febrile seizure incidence.
Febrile seizures, which are seizures as a result of rapid temperature change in the body, sometimes from illness, commonly occur in children 6 months-5 years old. They may seem scary but are generally harmless. With a population of 247,000 children, 100 of them having seizures is about what we would expect to see in a group of children that size.
Another study examined 795 children hospitalized with acute COVID infection, with 504 included in the analysis. Among them, 93 children (18.4%) experienced seizures during COVID. This suggests that COVID is a potentially more potent risk for febrile seizures than vaccination.
Disclaimer: Science is always evolving and our understanding of these topics may have evolved since this was originally posted. Browse the latest information posted in Just the Facts Topics.
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