Epilepsy patients need not fear taking COVID-19 vaccine, say experts

International Epilepsy Day observed in Jipmer

It is perfectly safe for epilepsy patients to take the COVID-19 vaccination, experts told a recent awareness meeting for patients and caregivers as part of International Epilepsy Day observance.

The session was hosted by the Department of Neurology at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (Jipmer) with this year’s theme “Show Some Love”, chosen by a joint initiative of International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE), to raise awareness about epilepsy and to highlight the problems faced by people with epilepsy, their families and caregivers.

Specialists told a group of over 100 patients and caregivers that one of the common doubts was over the safety of the COVID-19 vaccination. It was stressed that everyone can get the jab without any fear of aggravating the seizures.

According to specialists, epilepsy was one of the most common neurological disorders affecting more than 65 million people worldwide, which is about 1 in 100 persons.

More than 70% of people with epilepsy in low-income countries do not get proper treatment. The cause is unknown in 6 out of 10 epilepsy patients, in the remaining, it may be related to brain damage sustained from birth injury, road traffic accidents, and infections such as neurocysticercosis and tuberculosis, stroke or brain tumours.

While 70% of cases can be treated successfully without relapses using drugs, about half the remaining 30% of patients, may have abnormalities, which can be corrected by surgery. Jipmer has been offering facilities for such surgeries for the last few years.

Doctors reiterated that epilepsy was a chronic non-communicable disorder of the brain characterised by recurrent seizures that affect people of all age groups. Contrary to popular belief, epilepsy is neither contagious nor associated with witchcraft, and those with epilepsy are not mentally ill.