Non-specific "non-effects" of vaccination

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7478.1297

BMJ 2004;329:1297-1298 (4 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7478.1297

Editorial

Non-specific "non-effects" of vaccination

Literature does not support either beneficial or detrimentaleffects

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

This issue carries a paper from Burkina Faso on the non-specificeffects of vaccination on survival in children (p1309).¹ Thestudy analyses mortality in a cohort of children as a functionof their vaccination status. The authors conclude that vaccinationwith diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine as wellas BCG is associated with better survival of children up to2 years of age." The paper should be viewed with caution andin context.

Non-specific effects of vaccination, beneficial or detrimental,have been discussed for about 15 years. Some vaccines have effectson non-target diseases—for example, BCG protects againstleprosy.² Some vaccines have rare adverse reactions—forexample, myopericarditis following smallpox vaccine.³ High titremeasles vaccines were evaluated in the 1980s and withdrawn becauseof a hint of unexpected mortality in vaccinated girls.⁴ Thisobservation stemmed from work by Aaby et al and led to a seriesof . . . [Full text of this article]

Paul E M Fine, professor of communicable disease epidemiology

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1 7HT (Paul.Fine@lshtm.ac.uk)

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