The findings, reported in the Archives of Neurology, counter several previous case reports that suggest the onset of MS or other demyelinating disorders such as optic neuritis occurs shortly after vaccination.

Dr Frank DeStefano, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues reached their conclusions after conducting a case-control study of 440 adults with MS or optic neuritis and 950 age- and sex-matched healthy controls.

The researchers collected data on vaccinations and other risk factors from medical records and from telephone interviews. They also looked at the onset of first symptoms for those diagnosed with demyelinating disease.

After adjusting for confounding factors, Dr DeStefano’s team found that the odds ratios of the associations between ever having been vaccinated and risk of demyelinating disease were 0.9 for hepatitis B vaccine, 0.6 for tetanus vaccination, 0.8 for influenza vaccine, 0.8 for measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, 0.9 for measles vaccine and 0.7 for rubella vaccine.

The researchers conclude that there is no increased risk of demyelinating diseases based on the timing of a vaccination. Furthermore, the results were similar when MS and optic neuritis were analysed separately.

“We did not find any increased relative risks regardless of the timing of vaccination,” they said, “indicating that vaccinations do not cause central nervous system demyelination, nor do they trigger its clinical manifestation in those with subclinical disease.”

The team suggests that previous case reports of people developing demyelinating disorders shortly after receiving a vaccine are probably coincidental.

Reference: DeStefano et al, Archives of Neurology 2003;60:504-509

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