Vaccines vs Disease ???

[Guest guest]

‘Hopefully our report will ease the concerns of adults who need to be immunized against hepatitis B and are worried about the risk of multiple sclerosis.’ — DR. MARIE MCCORMICKlead author

THE FINDING is the latest study rebutting fears the vaccine might somehow be tied to diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barre syndrome, which affect myelin, the protective coating surrounding nerve fibers. While it found no connection between the vaccine and the diseases, the institute did urge continued observation of people who receive the vaccine. The institute is an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, a private organization chartered by Congress to provide advice to the government on scientific matters. The vaccine is recommended for all infants and many older people. A 1999 study showed that more than 90 percent of children age 19 months to 35 months had received the vaccine. An estimated 20 million Americans have gotten the shots, including health care workers. Hepatitis B is a potentially deadly virus that can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. It is transmitted through blood, bodily fluids, shared needles and from mother to child. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1.25 million Americans have chronic hepatitis B, with 80,000 infected each year and between 4,000 and 5,000 dying from the effects of the disease.

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RELUCTANCE TO VACCINATE Some pediatricians had indicated a reluctance to vaccinate infants, feeling that hepatitis B was not a problem in their area. Also, some parents and patients have worried that the vaccine might be linked to various nerve diseases, a concern that became widespread in France.

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In 1998, the French government halted a major vaccination program because of fears that the shots cause neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis. “Hepatitis B vaccine policy has been viewed skeptically by some because of concerns about vaccine safety and a perception that the virus itself does not pose a serious risk,” Dr. Marie McCormick of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study, said in a statement. The institute reported that after looking at studies done in the United States, France, Canada and England, it could find no link between the vaccine and the development or worsening of diseases affecting myelin, such as multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barre syndrome. “Hopefully our report will ease the concerns of adults who need to be immunized against hepatitis B and are worried about the risk of multiple sclerosis,” McCormick said.

There is a theoretical basis to speculate that vaccines could cause such disorders, the report said, but no actual evidence of a relationship. Last year two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine also concluded that the vaccine does not cause multiple sclerosis in healthy people and does not trigger flare-ups in MS patients. The institute said there was not enough evidence to completely rule out any relationship between the vaccine and some other conditions, such as inflammation of the optic nerve and inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.