Childhood Stroke after Influenza Vaccination

• Main Authors: Koh Cheng Thoon MBBS, MMed (Paediatrics), MRCPCH, Derrick Wei Shih Chan BMBS, BMed Sci, MRCPCH
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2012-12-01
• Series: Proceedings of Singapore Healthcare
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/201010581202100413

Neurological complications following influenza vaccination are rare in children, with the most common being seizures, and less commonly encephalopathy and Guillain-Barré syndrome. We report here a 10-year-old child who developed cerebellar stroke one day after receiving the seasonal trivalent influenza vaccine; to our knowledge this is the first reported case in literature. The child presented with acute-onset vertiginous giddiness, blurred vision, headache and non-bilious vomiting. Clinical examination revealed marked ataxia with past pointing worse on the right. Laboratory investigations did not reveal any thrombophilic tendency and there was no suggestion of embolic phenomena from a distant site. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showed two areas of restricted diffusion in the left cerebellar hemisphere. She was commenced on aspirin and underwent rehabilitation before being discharged six days after admission in good health. She recovered completely by outpatient review and aspirin was discontinued eight months after presentation.