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 too since this was originally posted. Be sure to check out our most recent posts and browse the latest Just the Facts Topics for the latest.
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