LONDON : Giving paracetamol to babies to prevent fever after routine vaccinations may reduce the effect of the shots themselves, Czech scientists said on Friday.

While the paracetamol, known as acetaminophen in the United States, generally does limit post-vaccination fever, it also reduces the child’s response to some of the vaccine antigens, according to a study in the Lancet journal.

Mothers in developed countries whose babies have a series of routine vaccinations at around the age three months are often told by medical staff to give paracetamol to try to cut the risk of fever or febrile convulsions.

But Roman Prymula of the Czech University of Defence said his study showed that giving so-called anti-pyretic medicines like paracetamol after vaccinations should “no longer be routinely recommended without careful weighing of the expected benefits and risks”.

The vaccinations which are generally offered to children as protection against pneumococcal disease, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, polio and rotavirus.

The effect of some of the vaccines — in particular Hib, diphtheria, tetanus and pneumococcal — is reduced if kids are given paracetamol, the expert said.

source:www.aaj.tv