Changing federal vaccine guidance from health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is creating confusion and removing choice for some Connecticut parents.
Kennedy’s vaccine panel recently recommended splitting the dose for a vaccine against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) – commonly known as chicken pox – for babies 12-to-18 months old.
In older children, the risk of separating the doses (MMR) or combining them (MMRV) into one shot is the same. But children aged 12-to-15 months are at a slightly higher risk for non life-threatening complications from the combined shot.
The state’s top public health official, Dr. Manisha Juthani, said the federal panel’s recommendation for infants does not change much for most parents.
“It was already recommended by most pediatricians that you get the split shot in the 12-to-15 month of age just to remove that additional risk,” she said.
But, she said, some parents prefer one less shot for their child. In Connecticut, about 17% of families chose to get the combined shot, despite a slightly increased risk of non-life threatening, fever-induced seizures.
“There are some parents that wanted one less shot for their child. Maybe a shot is very traumatic for their child, and they felt like, ‘I can just give my child Tylenol and try to avert a fever, but I want one less shot,’” she said.
The changing federal guidelines on established vaccines is spreading confusion and fear among parents, Juthani said.
She emphasized that vaccines are safe.
