Yes, indirectly. Vaccines can cause fever, which can cause convulsions. Therefore, vaccine-induced fevers can cause convulsions in children who are susceptible (children whose parents or siblings have had convulsions are more likely to have a convulsion than those with no such history). Fever from any cause triggers a convulsion in about 3% of healthy young children. Fever is the most common cause of seizures or convulsions in infants between 6 months and 6 years of age. Seizures caused by fever do not cause brain damage.

This document was published by the Canadian Paediatric society, 1997.

Posted by the Canadian Paediatric Society, July 1997.

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