BMJ 1999;318:1159-1160 ( 1 May )

Editorials

Vaccination and type 1 diabetes mellitus

Currently no evidence of a link, but more studies are needed as vaccines change

Papers p   1169

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The massive reduction of invasive disease due to Haemophilus influenzae type b has been an outstanding example of the value of immunisation. However, as has been the case with several vaccines, memory of the devastation caused by the disease rapidly fades and is replaced by concerns about the safety of the vaccine. These are often unfounded, but untold damage can result.1

Coincident with the increase in the number of vaccines given to children there has been a significant rise in the incidence of a number of poorly understood conditions, such as asthma, autism, and diabetes mellitus, has been noted in children in many countries.2 Of course this temporal association does not prove a causal link, and the increase in incidence often predates the introduction of most vaccines. However, the temporal associations have raised questions, and such concerns should not be dismissed out of hand.

Classen and Classen have suggested that . . . [Full text of this article]
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Association between type 1 diabetes and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccination: birth cohort study
Marjatta Karvonen, Zygimantas Cepaitis, and Jaakko Tuomilehto
BMJ 1999 318: 1169-1172. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ