Abstract
By the end of October 1995, Britain's Committee on Safety of Medicines had received 1202 reports describing 2735 suspected adverse reactions to the vaccines administered in the campaign, among which 530 were serious, though none was fatal.3 Symptoms and signs of anaphylaxis or allergic reactions within 24 hours of vaccination were reported from 1 in 65000 of those vaccinated. There were 91 reports of serious neurological reactions (including 61 reports of convulsions); but reported rates of encephalitis, convulsions, and Guillain-Barre syndrome were lower than the background prevalence of those conditions. The one report of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis occurred one month after vaccination in a child with a history of …