MONDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Children who are vaccinated on schedule in their first year of life exhibit neuropsychological development at ages 7 to 10 that is as good as or better than children who receive delayed vaccination or do not get vaccinated, according to a study published online May 24 in Pediatrics.
Michael J. Smith, M.D., and Charles R. Woods, M.D., of the University of Louisville in Kentucky, analyzed data from a previous VaccineSafety Datalink study of 1,047 children to determine whether those receiving vaccinations on schedule during their first year had neuropsychological outcomes than children who got delayed vaccination or no vaccinations. In secondary analyses, the researchers focused on children who had the most and least vaccinations in their first seven months.
In univariate analysis, on-schedule vaccination was associated with better performance on 12 of 42 neuropsychological outcomes, and in multivariate analysis it was associated with better performance for two outcomes, while no significant benefit was observed for delayed vaccination or non-vaccination. In univariate analysis, children with the most vaccinations during their first seven months exhibited better performance on 15 outcomes than children with the least vaccine exposure, but the difference disappeared in multivariate analyses.
"Timely vaccination during infancy has no adverse effect on neuropsychological outcomes 7 to 10 years later. These data may reassure parents who are concerned that children receive too many vaccines too soon," the authors write.
The authors reported being unfunded participants in vaccine clinical trials for which colleagues receive funding from pharmaceutical companies, and Woods reported receiving honoraria and research funding from pharmaceutical companies.
Abstract
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