title: Parental Approach to the Prevention and Management of Fever and Pain Following Childhood Immunizations: A Survey Study.
abstract: Antipyretic analgesics are commonly used to prevent and treat adverse events following immunizations. Current practice discourages routine use due to possible blunting of vaccine immune responses. We surveyed 150 parents/caregivers of recently vaccinated 6- and 15-month-old children to determine the prevalence of and beliefs regarding antipyretic analgesics use around vaccinations. 11% used them prophylactically, before vaccination. Use in the first 48 hours after vaccination was 64%, primarily to prevent and/or treat fever and pain. Acetaminophen was administered 2.6 times more frequently than ibuprofen. Ibuprofen was used more in the 15-month compared with the 6-month-old children (28% vs 7.4%, respectively, P = .001). The majority of caregivers disagreed with their use for fever (53%) or pain (59%). Antipyretic analgesic use, including prophylaxis, around vaccinations was common in our study population. Effective interventions are needed to target parents/caregivers to eliminate unnecessary antipyretic analgesic use around vaccination time and foster nonmedication alternatives.
authors: 1 Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Ezzeldin
authors: E
authors: Saleh
authors: 1 Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Geeta K
authors: GK
authors: Swamy
authors: 1 Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
authors: M Anthony
authors: MA
authors: Moody
authors: 1 Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Emmanuel B
authors: EB
authors: Walter
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000328:Adult; D000700:Analgesics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D058633:Antipyretics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D017028:Caregivers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007114:Immunization / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D010290:Parents; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D058633:Antipyretics; D000082:Acetaminophen; D007052:Ibuprofen
keywords: adverse events following immunization; analgesics; antipyretics; children; vaccination