Vaccination is not generally contraindicated because a person has epilepsy. The main seizure-related issue is that some vaccines can cause fever, and fever can lower seizure threshold in people who are susceptible to fever-associated seizures.
Epilepsy itself is not a reason to avoid routine vaccination
Major epilepsy organisations support routine vaccination for people with epilepsy unless there is a specific contraindication to the vaccine or an individual medical reason to delay it.
The risks from vaccine-preventable infections can be substantial, and infections themselves can cause fever, seizures, encephalitis and other neurological complications.
Fever is the important link
Some vaccines produce fever as a temporary immune response. In susceptible young children, fever can occasionally precipitate a febrile seizure.
A febrile seizure after vaccination does not automatically mean the vaccine caused epilepsy.
Febrile seizures and epilepsy are different
Most children who experience a febrile seizure do not develop epilepsy.
Certain genetic epilepsies, including Dravet syndrome, are highly temperature-sensitive and may first become apparent after fever associated with infection or vaccination. The vaccination does not create the underlying genetic disorder.
Dravet syndrome changed how old vaccine claims are understood
Before SCN1A-related Dravet syndrome was recognised, some severe early-life epilepsies were attributed to vaccination because the first prolonged seizure occurred after immunisation.
Genetic research showed that many of these children had an underlying developmental and epileptic encephalopathy in which fever from many causes could precipitate seizures.
COVID-19 vaccination evidence
ILAE guidance has recommended COVID-19 vaccination for people with epilepsy and notes no evidence that epilepsy itself creates a specific excess risk of vaccine-related seizures.
Fever after vaccination can still be relevant to an individual with fever-sensitive seizures.
Antipyretics should not be turned into a universal rule
Strategies for managing post-vaccination fever vary by vaccine, age and clinical situation.
People with severe fever-sensitive epilepsies may have an individual plan from their specialist team; this should not be generalised to every person with epilepsy.
When specialist advice is useful
A previous vaccine-associated seizure, Dravet syndrome, recurrent febrile status epilepticus or a complex neurological history may justify personalised vaccination planning.
The aim is usually to vaccinate safely rather than to leave the person unprotected.
Related reading
Sources and further reading
- ILAE — COVID-19 vaccines and people with epilepsy
- ILAE — COVID-19 FAQs for people with epilepsy and carers
- Febrile seizures vs epilepsy — companion evidence base
Evidence checked: September 2026.