Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis following measles vaccination

A 19-month-old girl developed haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis following a measles vaccination. She developed persistent high fever 1 week after vaccination, and then showed pancytopenia, liver dysfunction and hepatosplenomegaly with marked haemophagocytosis. Based on the clinical and laboratory findings, she was diagnosed as having haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis probably due to measles vaccination. She did not respond fully to first-line immunosuppressive therapy and required immunochemotherapy with cytotoxic drugs.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first detailed report of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocyosis associated with measles vaccination documented in the English literature. Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocyosis should be kept in mind as one of the rare adverse effects of vaccination.