Vaccination against COVID-19 and potential protective effects on seizure recurrence in children with epilepsy: A cross-sectional survey

Despite strong evidence on the safety and tolerability of the COVID-19 vaccine, data on vaccination in children with epilepsy, particular younger children with specific epilepsy syndromes, are limited. The protective effects of vaccination against seizure increase upon COVID-19 infection also remain to be elucidated.

Questionnaire surveys were distributed online via an established WeChat group for patient management as well as in our outpatient clinic. The data collected included demographics and clinical information related to COVID-19 vaccination and infection. Detailed information related to epilepsy diagnosis and treatment was also collected from our patient database. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with non-vaccination. The characteristics of seizures following COVID-19 infection were described.

In total, 354 suitable questionnaires were included in the study. The median age at survey was 6 years (interquartile range 4, 9). The most common epilepsy syndrome was self-limited epilepsy (n = 153, 43.2%), followed by developmental and/or epileptic encephalopathy (D/EE, n = 81, 22.9%) and genetic generalized epilepsy (n = 59, 16.7%). The vaccine uptake rate was 43.8% (n = 155), and all related side-effects (n = 11, 7.1%) remitted spontaneously. Younger age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.877, P = 0.001), D/EE (OR = 5.096, P = 0.008), and less than six months seizure-freedom before vaccination (OR = 3.026, P = 0.005) were associated with unwillingness to be vaccinated. There were no significant differences in the rate of COVID-19 infection (33.7% vs 32.7%, P = 0.879) and resultant increased seizure activity following infection between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups after propensity score matching (9.1% vs 15.6%, P = 0.428).Three unvaccinated cases of Dravet syndrome developed status epilepticus following COVID-19 infection.

Vaccination against COVID-19 is safe and well tolerated in children, even in younger patients with D/EE. Although the risk of worsening seizures following COVID-19 infection may not be reduced by immunization, education focused on increased vaccination in pediatric epilepsy is still warranted.