SCIENCE BRIEFING
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Giving acetaminophen -- best-known by the brand name Tylenol -- to infants to prevent fevers after vaccinations reduces the effectiveness of the vaccines, perhaps because a fever is an essential part of the development of an immune response, Czech researchers reported Thursday in the journal Lancet.
Even in the children studied who received acetaminophen, more than 90% developed protective antibodies, so the overall risk is small. Still, the finding suggests that it would be best not to use the drug to prevent fevers after vaccinations.
