1 Preventive Medicine Section, Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030-3411
New guidelines for the national Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) have been announced. Several important changes are included in the revised Vaccine Injury Table. First, a new condition of chronic arthritis was added to the Table for vaccines containing the attenuated rubella virus. Second, the time of onset for certain conditions in relation to the time of vaccine administration was altered. For instance, the interval for onset of anaphylaxis after vaccination was shortened from 24 hours to 4 hours. Clarification of definitions of conditions such as encephalopathy were made in the Qualifications and Aids to Interpretation that accompany the Table. Finally, some conditions, such as residual seizure disorder and hypotonic-hyporesponsive episode after diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) immunization, were removed from the Table.
Submitted on September 3, 1996