Physicians Fail to Adequately Address Postvaccination Syncope

Keeping all children in the exam room for 15 minutes after the visit would be problematic. An office visit is scheduled for 15 minutes so that would prevent another visit after each exam that includes an immunization, which would have a significant impact on our productivity.

We fortunately have not seen any serious injuries after fainting in the office. Ironically, after discussing this with the nurses this morning, a child fainted later the same morning and then had a brief seizure after receiving DTaP (diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine) and IPV (inactivated polio vaccine)! She was 4 years old. She was fine after a few minutes but the mom (and the nurses) were a little upset. Again, the main problem we see in teenagers who faint is extreme embarrassment.

H. GARRY GARDNER, M.D., is a pediatrician in private practice in Darien, Ill. He said he had no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.