Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.

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May 31, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Study of Hepatitis B Shots Finds No Link With M.S."

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (05/31/02) P. A21

A new report by the Institute of Medicine says that the hepatitis B vaccine does not cause multiple sclerosis in people who receive it, nor does it cause related neurological disorders.  The report is the third in a series that examines vaccines to see if they could cause serious side effects in people.  Some people had claimed that the hepatitis B vaccine could cause multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barre syndrome, but according to Dr. Marie McCormick of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study, no real evidence was found that the vaccine could cause these diseases.  Over 1 billion people around the world are currently infected with hepatitis B, which can cause liver failure, liver cancer, and death.

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