Vaccination and immune dysfunction/chronic disease

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How Vaccinations Work - Philip Incao, MD

The outcome of this line of thought is that, contrary to previous belief, vaccinations do not strengthen or "boost" the whole immune system. Instead vaccinations overstimulate the "tasting and remembering" function of the antibody-mediated branch of the immune system (Th2) which simultaneously suppresses the cellular immune system (Th1) thus "preventing" the disease in question.

What in reality is prevented is not the disease but the ability of our cellular immune system to manifest, to respond to and to overcome the disease!

Vaccinations are usually effective in preventing an individual from manifesting a particular illness, but they do not improve the overall strength or health of the individual nor of the immune system. Instead, vaccinations modify the reactivity of the immune system, decreasing acute discharging inflammatory reactions and increasing the tendency to chronic allergic and auto-immune reactions.

Show Us the Science: An Exclusive Mothering Report on the Second International Public Conference of the National Vaccine Information Center

"And yet, while vaccines have driven infectious diseases out of childhood, over the past quarter century there has been a simultaneous and unprecedented increase in the numbers of children suffering from chronic disease and disability. The incidence of learning disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and asthma has doubled, diabetes has tripled, and every state in America has experienced a 200 to 500 percent increase in autism in the past decade. The total number of children suffering with these chronic disabilities numbers in the ten of millions in the US, Canada, and Europe.

"Public health, like individual health, is not measured solely by an absence of infectious disease. And so one of the great unanswered questions in medicine today is: Has the mass use of multiple vaccines in early childhood, when the brain and immune systems are developing at their most rapid rate, been a major co-factor in the broad-based brain and immune dysfunctions seen in so many young children and young adults today?"

Vaccination: A Sacrament of Modern Medicine - Richard Moskowitz, MD

Far from being restricted to any particular category, vaccine related illness similarly encompasses the full range of chronic diseases in children, from asthma, eczema, and allergies to otitis media, far and away the commonest in my practice, as well as learning disabilities and emotional or behavior problems.

Vaccines: A Second Opinion - Gary Null, Ph.D.

Another argument against vaccines is that they are suppressive, rather than curative, causing the vital force of the body to shift its emphasis either to some other disease or to a deeper disease. Symptoms can be suppressed for the moment, notes homeopathic veterinarian Dr. Charles Loops, but down the road some type of chronic disease is going to develop: "If you treat irritable bowel syndrome, for instance, with cortisone and antibiotics, you can drive the disease to a state where ten years down the road you’ll be dealing with colon cancer. And we have equivalents in animal disease. The most important thing is to treat disease, any type of disease, in a manner that enhances the body, so that it can heal itself, and that means using herbal, homeopathic, or some other type of stimulatory medicine, rather than suppressive medicine."

The Law of Vaccination - Toward Radical Reform - Stan Lippman

Declare a 2 year moratorium on vaccination to determine what the risk are of an outbreak of disease and how much harm such an outbreak would bring, versus observed reduction in new chronic illness.

The Post-Vaccination Syndrome - Dr. Tinus Smits

My discussion will show that vaccinations can be responsible for both acute and chronic health problems.

UNIVERSAL IMMUNIZATION: Medical Miracle or Masterful Mirage - Raymond Obomsawin, Ph.D.

"We know of hundreds of children who were fat and well before being vaccinated, but who are now chronically ill or seriously mentally or physically disabled. Of some 600 cases: the most common are autism (202); serious digestive problems (110); epilepsy (97); hearing and vision problems (40); arthritis (42); behaviour and learning problems (41); ME (24); diabetes (9); paralysis (9); blood disorders (5); brain damage (3); and death (14)." (statement from a law firm)

HEPATITIS B VACCINE HEARINGS - SCHOOL NURSE PERSPECTIVE

This is a school nursing perspective for the congressional hearings to be held on May 18, 1999 regarding the safety of the hepatitis B vaccine that is being mandated for newborns and now older children in America. We ask you to please consider the following information and submit it into the congressional testimony. As nurses we continually see more and more damaged children entering our schools, and we are very concerned that a major portion of that damage may be due to the hepatitis B vaccine's assault on the newborn neurological and immune system.

My name is Patti White, R.N. I am a registered professional nurse and the district health services coordinator for a multi-school district. I am writing on behalf of the school nurses in our district. We have very grave concerns about the hepatitis B vaccine.

For the past three or four years our school district has noted a significant increase in the number of children entering school with developmental disorders, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders and/or serious chronic illness such as diabetes, asthma and seizure disorders. Each of the past four years has been worse than the year before. There is only one common thread we have been able to identify in these children: they are the children who received the first trial hepatitis B injections as newborns in the early 1990s.

As the hepatitis B compliance rate in newborns has gone up in our community, so has the percentage of damaged children.

Vaccination and immuno-difficiency in children - Gunner Ødum, MD

After these 4 initial cases in 1996 I have treated more than 700 children whose immunity had been weakened by vaccinations. The chronic diseases I had seen in a lot of children were the following:

    1. Constantly returning colds.
    2. Fluids from the ears/ otitis media.
    3. Defective hearing.
    4. Asthma and bronchitis.
    5. Recurring pneumonia.
    6. Eczema of various kinds.
    7. Sleeping problems.
    8. Appetite problems.
    9. Hyperactivity.
    10. Physical or psychic handicaps.
    11. Speech disturbances.
    12. Backward readers.
    13. Behaviour disorder.
    14. DAMP - children (Dysfunction as to Attention, Motor nerves and Perception)
    15. Autism.
    16. Epilepsy.
    17. Rheumatoid arthritis and
    18. Diabetes Mellitus.

Do Vaccines Disable The Immune System? - Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., L.Ac.

Vaccines are destroying our immune systems. Amazingly, the medical profession ignores the incriminating evidence against vaccines, and continues to inflict more unnecessary and harmful vaccines on our nation’s infants. A recent study from the New England Journal of Medicine of May 1996 revealed that tetanus vaccine disables the immune system in HIV patients. Tetanus vaccination produced a drop in T cells in 10 of 13 patients, a classic sign of immune deficiency. HIV viral replication increased dramatically in response to tetanus vaccine. Finally, white blood cells from 7 of 10 uninfected individuals became more susceptible to HIV infection following tetanus vaccination. Despite these findings, the authors made no comment about the immune depleting effect of the vaccine.

The destructive effect of vaccines on the immune system can persist over an extended period of time. One study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases documented a long-term depressive effect on interferon production caused by the measles vaccine.

What is the effect of long-term immune suppression? Some investigators are concerned that vaccines could be disabling our body’s ability to react normally to disease, and creating the climate for autoimmune self-destruction. The many reports of autoimmune phenomena that occur as reactions to vaccination provide incontrovertible proof that tampering with the immune system causes devastating disease.

E-News: Second Thoughts About The Flu Vaccine

Fisher believes vaccinating healthy young people against the flu instead of allowing them to recover naturally from the virus could lead to long-term health problems. The flu shot’s protective effects last only six months, requiring re-vaccination at the start of every flu season. But if someone catches a strain of the flu and recovers from it they will develop an immunity which will stop them from getting it again.

Strengthening Your Child's Immune System - by Jane Sheppard

Increasing evidence suggests that injecting a child with nearly three-dozen doses of 10 different viral and bacterial vaccines before the age of five, while the immune system is still developing, can cause chronic immune dysfunction. Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., L.Ac points to some of this evidence in his article Do Vaccines Disable the Immune System?. Vaccines may provide immunity to a specific disease, but they do not increase overall immunity or create healthier children. I have seen many anecdotal reports from parents that express unequivocally how incredibly strong their unvaccinated children’s immune systems are. My own unvaccinated daughter is remarkably healthy. She’s been “immunized” with four years of breastmilk, an organic whole foods diet, and plenty of love and attention. She has never needed an antibiotic. I know her immune system is strong enough to fight the so-called “deadly” diseases that kids are vaccinated against. If she does get a serious infection, I am confident her strong immune system will respond quickly to treatment

MMR-type vaccine for cattle withdrawn after test fears 15 years ago

A combined vaccine similar to the controversial MMR jab was withdrawn from use on cattle because it did not work properly, a leading Scottish vaccine expert has revealed.

As a cluster of measles cases were reported in an area where parents are boycotting MMR due to suspected links with autism and bowel disorders, Dr John March of the government-funded Moredun Research Institute, warned that vaccines for cattle are tested more thoroughly than jabs for children.

March believes the measles vaccine weakens the immune system and that this can be problematic when it is given at the same time as other live vaccines, such as mumps and rubella.

He said it is not known, as yet, whether the MMR vaccine causes autism -- as some experts have claimed -- but he believes there is the 'potential for problems'.

'Immuno-suppression can easily be detected and monitored in an individual animal. With current human vaccine trials this would never be observed,' he said.

A paper published in the scientific journal Veterinary Record in 1987, the year before the MMR was licensed in this country, showed that when cows were given a combined cattle measles and pneumonia vaccine the measles part interfered with the pneumonia component and weakened the immune system.

 

Some relevant journal articles

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11934518&dopt=Abstract

 
: Brain Dev 2002 Apr;24(3):187-9 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Acute transverse myelitis after Japanese B encephalitis vaccination in a 4-year-old girl.

Matsui M, Kawano H, Matsukura M, Otani Y, Miike T.

Department of Child Development, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan.

Fourteen days after Japanese B encephalitis (JBE) vaccination, a 4-year-old girl developed the full clinical manifestation of ATM within 24h. She showed acute ascending flaccid paraplegia with sensory disturbance, bladder dysfunction and meningeal sign. Cerebrospinal fluid examination revealed neutrophil pleocytosis and elevated protein level. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed diffuse swelling of the cervical and lumbar cord with low signal intensity on T1 and high signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging. These findings suggested that she had developed meningo-radiculomyelopathy.Since sequential MRI studies showed prompt reduction of the cord swelling, the high-dose methylprednisolone therapy employed seemed to have been effective for improvement of inflammation. Even with such potent drug treatment, she still has substantial flaccid diplegia and sphincter disorder 1 year later, and so we are convinced that the pathological change of the cord was as severe as in necrotizing myelopathy. Although the pathological process remains unknown, cellular autoimmune mechanism against the JBE vaccination is suspected.

PMID: 11934518 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 
J Infect Dis 2002 Jan 1;185(1):13-9 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut
Click here to read 
Altered synthesis of interleukin-12 and type 1 and type 2 cytokinesin rhesus macaques during measles and atypical measles.

Polack FP, Hoffman SJ, Moss WJ, Griffin DE.

W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. fpolack@jhsph.edu

Immunosuppression during and after measles results in increased susceptibility to other infections and 1 million deaths annually. The mechanism by which measles virus (MV) induces immune suppression is incompletely understood, but a type 2 skewing of the cytokine response after infection has been documented. In vitro studies suggest that lack of interleukin (IL)-12 production by monocytes and dendritic cells plays an early role in the skewed response. In addition, immunization with an inactivated measles vaccine before measles develops appears to lead to an even stronger type 2 skewing of the cytokine response and atypical measles. In this study, the cytokine responses in rhesus macaques were compared after vaccination with live and formalin-inactivated vaccines and after challenge with MV. In vivo production of IL-12 was decreased during the viremic phase of the illness, and production of IL-4 was increased during and after atypical measles, compared with measles.

PMID: 11756976 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

AN: 21629474


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11972986&dopt=Abstract

 
Toxicology 2002 May 15;174(1):3-11 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Adverse effects of immunotherapeutics involving the immune system.

Vial T, Choquet-Kastylevsky G, Descotes J.

Poison Center and Pharmacovigilance Unit, Hopital E. Herriot, 5 Place d'Arsonval, 69437 Cedex 03, Lyon, France. thierry.vial@chu-lyon.fr

Immunotherapeutics are pharmaceutical products intended to modify immune functions either directly or indirectly by influencing physiological systems that affect immunological functions. They include conventional immunosuppressants, monoclonal antibodies, recombinant cytokines, gene therapy products or therapeutic vaccines. A variety of adverse effects involving the immune system have been described in laboratory animals as well as in the clinic. Some of these adverse effects can be predicted, at least to some extent, from the immunopharmacological profile of these drugs, but a number of unpredicted adverse effects have been described. Immunosuppression, allergy, autoimmunity, immunoactivation are the major adverse consequences to be expected as illustrated by this overview of the leading immunotherapeutics already used in the clinic. These untoward and potentially severe consequences support the need for a careful preclinical and clinical evaluation of the immunotoxicity of these products.

Publication Types:


PMID: 11972986 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11972991&dopt=Abstract

 
Toxicology 2002 May 15;174(1):45-51 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Vaccines: predicting the risk of allergy and autoimmunity.

Descotes J, Ravel G, Ruat C.

Lyon Poison Centre and INSERM U503, Edouard Herriot Hospital, 69437 Cedex 03, Lyon, France. jacques.descotes@chu-lyon.fr

The field of vaccines is markedly evolving with the introduction and development of many new concepts and formulations, as well as new indications. Based on the current clinical experience, vaccines can be considered safe in most cases. Nevertheless, allergy and, to a lesser extent, autoimmunity have repeatedly been described or suspected as rare adverse consequences of human vaccines. The mechanisms of these adverse reactions are ill-elucidated, if at all. No animal models have been adequately standardized and validated to predict the risk of allergy and autoimmunity associated with vaccines. However, a number of existing models can be considered for use, but need refinement to be applied to vaccine evaluation. Finally, because the preclinical safety evaluation has not received much attention in the past, efforts should be paid to design specific and cost-effective procedures to meet the current expectations.

Publication Types:


PMID: 11972991 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12047638&dopt=Abstract

 
Pediatr Dermatol 2002 May-Jun;19(3):204-9 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Lichen planus in children: a possible complication of hepatitis B vaccines.

Limas C, Limas CJ.

Department of Dermatopathology, Andreas Sygros Hospital, Athens, Greece.

Lichen planus (LP) has been reported as a complication of hepatitis B vaccination in both adults and children. According to published observations, an autoimmune reaction may be triggered by the viral S epitope. In children, LP is uncommon and, because of its atypical clinical presentation, definitive diagnosis may require biopsy. We investigated the possible association of recombinant hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines with childhood LP or LP-like eruptions seen in our hospital over the last 3 years. Only biopsy-confirmed cases in which the clinical history could be thoroughly scrutinized were included. We report five patients less than 16 years of age in whom such an association could be supported by relevant data. Thirteen similar pediatric and 15 adult cases have been reported from various countries in the last 5 years. The data indicate that LP is a complication that rarely occurs in children receiving the HBV vaccine. It appears without known predisposing factors and has variable clinical presentations while the histologic findings are consistent and, with minor variations, typical of LP.

PMID: 12047638 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11164115&dopt=Abstract

 
Ann Epidemiol 2001 Jan;11(1):13-21 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Adverse events associated with hepatitis B vaccine in U.S. children less than six years of age, 1993 and 1994.

Fisher MA, Eklund SA, James SA, Lin X.

Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated infrequent adverse reactions to hepatitis B vaccine by investigating the association of this vaccine with adverse health outcomes for U.S. children less than six years of age. The evaluation of the association between hepatitis B vaccine and chronic arthritis provides needed data, relevant to the Institute of Medicine's Report that there are inadequate data available to assess the causal relationship of hepatitis B vaccine to arthritis risk. METHODS: The 1993 (n = 5505 children) and 1994 (n = 6515 children) National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) datasets were analyzed to provide post-marketing surveillance data from probability samples of the U.S. population. Incident cases of adverse events were determined from the temporal association between the hepatitis B vaccination and the adverse events. Logistic regression modeling was used to adjust for potential confounding. RESULTS: Controlling for age, race, and gender simultaneously in the 1994 NHIS, hepatitis B vaccine was found to be associated with prevalent arthritis [odds ratio (OR) = 5.91, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05-33.14], incident acute ear infections (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.00-2.58), and incident pharyngitis/nasopharyngitis (OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 0.95-2.09).  CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from this study suggests that hepatitis B vaccine is positively associated with adverse health outcomes in the general population of US children.

PMID: 11164115 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11174412&dopt=Abstract

 
: J Am Acad Dermatol 2001 Feb;44(2 Suppl):348-50 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Childhood bullous pemphigoid developed after the first vaccination.

Baykal C, Okan G, Sarica R.

Department of Dermatology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Turkey. baykalc@istambul.edu.tr

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) typically affects the elderly. There are at least 40 reported cases of BP in childhood, 10 reported cases at 1 year of age or younger. The antigen of this autoimmune disease is localized to the hemidesmosome. Neoplasia, recurrent trauma, some systemic diseases, and psoriasis were previously reported as possible triggering factors of bullous pemphigoid in some cases. In the last 5 years, 10 adult and 2 infantile BP cases with a close relation of vaccination have been reported. Anti-influenza vaccine, tetanus toxoid booster, and tetracoq vaccine were the possible causes of these cases. We report herein a 3.5-month-old BP case in whom the lesions developed 24 hours after the first tetracoq vaccine. We suggest that vaccination may be the triggering factor of BP of any age by stimulating the immune system with an unexplained mechanism.

PMID: 11174412 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11390494&dopt=Abstract

J Immunol 2001 Jun 15;166(12):7419-26 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Suppression of immune response and protective immunity to a Japanese encephalitis virus DNA vaccine by coadministration of an IL-12-expressing plasmid.

Chen HW, Pan CH, Huan HW, Liau MY, Chiang JR, Tao MH.

Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.

IL-12 plays a central role in both innate and acquired immunity and has been demonstrated to potentiate the protective immunity in several experimental vaccines. However, in this study, we show that IL-12 can be detrimental to the immune responses elicited by a plasmid DNA vaccine. Coadministration of the IL-12-expressing plasmid (pIL-12) significantly suppressed the protective immunity elicited by a plasmid DNA vaccine (pE) encoding the envelope protein of Japanese encephalitis virus. This suppressive effect was associated with marked reduction of specific T cell proliferation and Ab responses. A single dose of pIL-12 treatment with plasmid pE in initial priming resulted in significant immune suppression to subsequent pE booster immunization. The pIL-12-mediated immune suppression was dose dependent and evident only when the IL-12 gene was injected either before or coincident with the pE DNA vaccine. Finally, using IFN-gamma gene-disrupted mice, we showed that the suppressive activity of the IL-12 plasmid was dependent upon endogenous production of IFN-gamma. These results demonstrate that coexpression of the IL-12 gene can sometimes produce untoward effects to immune responses, and thus its application as a vaccine adjuvant should be carefully evaluated.

PMID: 11390494 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11251877&dopt=Abstract

 
: Scand J Immunol 2001 Mar;53(3):218-26 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut
Click here to read 
Immunomodulation using bacterial enterotoxins.

Simmons CP, Ghaem-Magami M, Petrovska L, Lopes L, Chain BM, Williams NA, Dougan G.

Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK. c.simmons@ic.ac.uk

Immunologic unresponsiveness (tolerance) is a key feature of the mucosal immune system, and deliberate vaccination by a mucosal route can effectively induce immune suppression. However, some bacterial-derived proteins, e.g. cholera toxin and the heat labile toxin of Escherichia coli, are immunogenic and immunomodulatory at mucosal surfaces and can effectively adjuvant immune responses to codelivered bystander antigens. This review summarizes some of the structural and biological characteristics of these toxins and provides examples of how these properties have been exploited for tolerance induction and mucosal vaccine development.

Publication Types:


PMID: 11251877 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

AN: 21150545


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11315360&dopt=Abstract

 
Lupus 2001;10(3):237-40 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut

Vaccination and systemic lupus erythematosus: the bidirectional dilemmas.

Aron-Maor A, Shoenfeld Y.

Department of Internal Medicine B and Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Sacklea Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.

Vaccination has been perhaps the most important achievement in medicine of the last century. A hoard of infectious diseases that used to claim the lives of many, especially children, have been prevented and some even eradicated. However, it is possible that within this gift there is hidden a 'Trojan Horse'. During the last decade increasing numbers of reports regarding possible autoimmune side effects of vaccination, have been published. The existing data does not link the vaccines and the autoimmune phenomena observed in a causal relationship, nevertheless a temporal connection has been described. In this article we wish to address in particular the possible link between vaccines and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), namely two aspects of this inter-relationship: the occurrence of SLE following vaccination and outcome of immunization of known SLE patients.

Publication Types:


PMID: 11315360 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

AN: 21213180


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11334488&dopt=Abstract

 
J Autoimmun 2001 May;16(3):235-40 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Bcg and autoimmunity: another two-edged sword.

Shoenfeld Y, Aron-Maor A, Tanai A, Ehrenfeld M.

Department of Internal Medicine B and C and the Research Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel. shoenfel@post.tau.ac.il

BCG immunotherapy for bladder carcinoma has been a long-standing treatment modality that has proved itself efficient and safe. Most of the side-effects of this treatment are minor and of short duration. There have been, nevertheless, several reports regarding more severe and long-term complications of BCG therapy-namely inflammatory arthritis, and occasionally systemic autoimmune manifestations. Here, we present four cases of patients who received intravesical instillation with BCG for bladder carcinoma and developed long-standing inflammatory arthritis. One of these patients developed Reiter's syndrome. We also refer to the possible immune mechanisms by which BCG can trigger arthritis, as well as to the link between mycobacterial infection, BCG immunotherapy and autoimmunity. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

PMID: 11334488 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11335699&dopt=Abstract

Brain 2001 May;124(Pt 5):974-83 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Central nervous system disease in patients with macrophagic myofasciitis.

Authier FJ, Cherin P, Creange A, Bonnotte B, Ferrer X, Abdelmoumni A, Ranoux D, Pelletier J, Figarella-Branger D, Granel B, Maisonobe T, Coquet M, Degos JD, Gherardi RK.

Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Muscle et le Nerf (GERMEN, EA Universite Paris XII-Val de Marne), Faculte de Medecine de Creteil, Departement de Pathologie, Hopital Henri Mondor, AP-HP, Creteil, France. authier@univ-paris12.fr

Macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF), a condition newly recognized in France, is manifested by diffuse myalgias and characterized by highly specific myopathological alterations which have recently been shown to represent an unusually persistent local reaction to intramuscular injections of aluminium-containing vaccines. Among 92 MMF patients recognized so far, eight of them, which included the seven patients reported here, had a symptomatic demyelinating CNS disorder. CNS manifestations included hemisensory or sensorimotor symptoms (four out of seven), bilateral pyramidal signs (six out of seven), cerebellar signs (four out of seven), visual loss (two out of seven), cognitive and behavioural disorders (one out of seven) and bladder dysfunction (one out of seven). Brain T(2)-weighted MRI showed single (two out of seven) or multiple (four out of seven) supratentorial white matter hyperintense signals and corpus callosum atrophy (one out of seven). Evoked potentials were abnormal in four out of six patients and CSF in four out of seven. According to Poser's criteria for multiple sclerosis, the diagnosis was clinically definite (five out of seven) or clinically probable multiple sclerosis (two out of seven). Six out of seven patients had diffuse myalgias. Deltoid muscle biopsy showed stereotypical accumulations of PAS (periodic acid-Schiff)-positive macrophages, sparse CD8+ T cells and minimal myofibre damage. Aluminium-containing vaccines had been administered 3-78 months (median = 33 months) before muscle biopsy (hepatitis B virus: four out of seven, tetanus toxoid: one out of seven, both hepatitis B virus and tetanus toxoid: two out of seven). The association between MMF and multiple sclerosis-like disorders may give new insights into the controversial issues surrounding vaccinations and demyelinating CNS disorders. Deltoid muscle biopsy searching for myopathological alterations of MMF should be performed in multiple sclerosis patients with diffuse myalgias.

PMID: 11335699 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11735306&dopt=Abstract

 
: Med Hypotheses 2001 Nov;57(5):532-8 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Vaccines and the risk of insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM): potential mechanism of action.

Classen JB, Classen DC.

Classen Immunotherapies Inc., 6517 Montrose Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21212, USA. Classen@vaccines.net

Immunization with a number of different vaccines, including live and killed vaccines, has been linked to the development of insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes in humans and animals. Multiple different mechanisms have been proposed to explain the association between vaccines and diabetes. The current paper reviews multiple different mechanisms by which vaccines are known to manipulate the immune system and can induce an autoimmune disease such as type 1 diabetes. Genetic variability may determine which of these pathways, or possible other pathways, predominate in an individual following immunization. Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Publication Types:


PMID: 11735306 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11824181&dopt=Abstract

Clin Pediatr (Phila) 2001 Jun;40(6):355-8 Related Articles, Links

Acute autoimmune hemolytic anemia following DTP vaccination: report of a fatal case and review of the literature.

Downes KA, Domen RE, McCarron KF, Bringelsen KA.

Department of Clinical Pathology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Publication Types:


PMID: 11824181 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10648110&dopt=Abstract

 
J Autoimmun 2000 Feb;14(1):1-10 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Vaccination and autoimmunity-'vaccinosis': a dangerous liaison?

Shoenfeld Y, Aron-Maor A.

Department of Internal Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. shoefel@post.tau.ac.il

The question of a connection between vaccination and autoimmune illness (or phenomena) is surrounded by controversy. A heated debate is going on regarding the causality between vaccines, such as measles and anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Brain antibodies as well as clinical symptoms have been found in patients vaccinated against those diseases. Other autoimmune illnesses have been associated with vaccinations. Tetanus toxoid, influenza vaccines, polio vaccine, and others, have been related to phenomena ranging from autoantibodies production to full-blown illness (such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA)). Conflicting data exists regarding also the connection between autism and vaccination with measles vaccine.So far only one controlled study of an experimental animal model has been published, in which the possible causal relation between vaccines and autoimmune findings has been examined: in healthy puppies immunized with a variety of commonly given vaccines, a variety of autoantibodies have been documented but no frank autoimmune illness was recorded. The findings could also represent a polyclonal activation (adjuvant reaction). The mechanism (or mechanisms) of autoimmune reactions following immunization has not yet been elucidated. One of the possibilities is molecular mimicry; when a structural similarity exists between some viral antigen (or other component of the vaccine) and a self-antigen. This similarity may be the trigger to the autoimmune reaction. Other possible mechanisms are discussed.Even though the data regarding the relation between vaccination and autoimmune disease is conflicting, it seems that some autoimmune phenomena are clearly related to immunization (e.g. Guillain-Barre syndrome).The issue of the risk of vaccination remains a philosophical one, since to date the advantages of this policy have not been refuted, while the risk for autoimmune disease has not been irrevocably proved. We discuss the pros and cons of this issue (although the temporal relationship (i.e. always 2-3 months following immunization) is impressive). Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Publication Types:


PMID: 10648110 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10812488&dopt=Abstract

 
Clin Exp Rheumatol 2000 Mar-Apr;18(2):181-4 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut

Comment on:


Vaccination as an additional player in the mosaic of autoimmunity.

Shoenfeld Y, Aharon-Maor A, Sherer Y.

Publication Types:


PMID: 10812488 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

AN: 20272368


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10777011&dopt=Abstract

 
Eur J Cancer Prev 2000 Feb;9(1):59-64 Related Articles, Links

Medical history and risk of Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

Tavani A, La Vecchia C, Franceschi S, Serraino D, Carbone A.

Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milano, Italy. tavani@irfmn.mnegri.it

The relationship between a history of selected medical conditions and risk of lymphomas was investigated in a hospital-based case-control study conducted in Northern Italy on 429 incident, histologically confirmed cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), 158 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD) and 1157 controls admitted to hospitals for acute conditions. The odds ratios (OR) for NHL were above unity in patients with a history of infectious mononucleosis (OR 2.9), herpes zoster (OR 1.8), pyelonephritis (OR 4.9), tuberculosis (OR 1.8), malaria (OR 1.9), any chronic bacterial diseases (OR 1.7), rheumatoid arthritis (OR 1.7) and psoriasis (OR 2.5). With reference to HD, the ORs were 4.0 for infectious mononucleosis, 2.9 for herpes zoster, 3.3 for pyelonephritis, 2.3 for tuberculosis, 1.4 for chronic bacterial diseases, 2.4 for rheumatoid arthritis, 2.7 for psoriasis and 2.1 for diabetes. The association of NHL and HD with herpes zoster was restricted to the first ten years since the onset of the disease. The relationships between NHL and mononucleosis (OR 12.9), malaria (OR 2.8) and psoriasis (OR 14.0) were stronger for cases aged > or = 60 years, and that with tuberculosis (OR 3.5) was stronger for younger cases. For HD, the positive association was stronger for cases aged > or = 40 years for herpes zoster (OR 3.8) and diabetes (OR 2.6). An increased risk of NHL was found in association with poliomyelitis (OR 1.6) (restricted to cases aged > or = 60 years, OR 4.0) and BCG immunizations (OR 1.6), but not with vaccination against smallpox, tetanus and diphtheria; increased risks of HD were found in relation to poliomyelitis and BCG immunization in cases aged > or = 40 years (OR respectively 2.5 and 2.1), or > or = 50 years (OR 4.3 and 2.2). Thus, our results confirm the association between a history of several chronic infectious and inflammatory diseases and the risk of NHL or HD, and are compatible with a role of chronic immunological alterations in the aetiology of lymphomas.

PMID: 10777011 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10743286&dopt=Abstract

 
Bull World Health Organ 2000;78(2):205-15 Related Articles, Links

Comment in:


Vaccine adverse events in the new millennium: is there reason for concern?

Ward BJ.

McGill Center for Tropical Diseases, Montreal General Hospital, Quebec, Canada. cybj@musica.mcgill.ca

As more and more infectious agents become targets for immunization programmes, the spectrum of adverse events linked to vaccines has been widening. Although some of these links are tenuous, relatively little is known about the immunopathogenesis of even the best characterized vaccine-associated adverse events (VAAEs). The range of possible use of active immunization is rapidly expanding to include vaccines against infectious diseases that require cellular responses to provide protection (e.g. tuberculosis, herpes viral infections), therapeutic vaccines for chronic infections (e.g. human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, viral hepatitis B and C), and vaccines against non-infectious conditions (e.g. cancer, autoimmune diseases). Less virulent pathogens (e.g. varicella, rotavirus in the developed world) are also beginning to be targeted, and vaccine use is being justified in terms of societal and parental "costs" rather than in straightforward morbidity and mortality costs. In the developed world the paediatric immunization schedule is becoming crowded, with pressure to administer increasing numbers of antigens simultaneously in ever simpler forms (e.g. subcomponent, peptide, and DNA vaccines). This trend, while attractive in many ways, brings hypothetical risks (e.g. genetic restriction, narrowed shield of protection, and loss of randomness), which will need to be evaluated and monitored. The available epidemiological and laboratory tools to address the issues outlined above are somewhat limited. As immunological and genetic tools improve in the years ahead, it is likely that we shall be able to explain the immunopathogenesis of many VAAEs and perhaps even anticipate and avoid some of them. However, this will only happen if the human and financial resources needed for monitoring and studying vaccine safety stay in step with the accelerating pace of vaccine development. Failure to make such a commitment would put all immunization programmes at risk.

Publication Types:


PMID: 10743286 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10774273&dopt=Abstract

 
: Isr Med Assoc J 2000 Mar;2(3):225-7 Related Articles, Links

Comment in:


Comment on:


The good, the bad and the ugly of vaccination.

Aharon-Maor A, Shoenfeld Y.

From the article:  During the last decade reports have accumulated on various side effects of vaccines that previously were not observed, or perhaps not acknowledged.  These include an entire range of autoimmune phenomena, and even full-blown illnesses, temporally related to the administration of vaccines.  To be sure, vaccination is starting to emerge as a more complex issue than previously considered.

Publication Types:


PMID: 10774273 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9714670&dopt=Abstract

 
Science 1998 Jul 31;281(5377):630-1 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
A shadow falls on hepatitis B vaccination effort.

Marshall E.

Publication Types:


PMID: 9714670 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9719468&dopt=Abstract

 
Biochem Pharmacol 1998 Apr 15;55(8):1151-3 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Plasmid DNA: a new era in vaccinology.

Mor G.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8063, USA. gm78@email.med.yale.edu

DNA vaccination is a novel approach for inducing an immune response. Purified plasmid DNA containing an antigen's coding sequences and the necessary regulatory elements to express them is introduced into the tissue via intramuscular injection or particle bombardment. Once the DNA reaches the tissue, the antigen is expressed in enough quantity to induce a potent and specific immune response and to confer protection against further infections. The effectiveness of DNA vaccines against viruses, parasites, and cancer cells has been demonstrated in numerous animal models. This new approach comes as an aid for the prevention of infectious diseases for which the conventional vaccines have failed. Research on DNA vaccines is providing new insights into some of the basic immunological mechanisms of vaccination such as antigen presentation, the role of effector cells, and immunoregulatory factors. In addition, DNA vaccines may enable us to manipulate the immune system in situations where the response to agents is inappropriate or ineffective. The study of the potential deleterious effects of DNA vaccines is furthering our knowledge regarding the relationship between bacterial DNA and the immune system, as well as its potential application for the study of neonatal tolerance and autoimmunity.

PMID: 9719468 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9382736&dopt=Abstract

 
Behring Inst Mitt 1997 Feb;(98):153-9 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut

Distinct immunological states in murine cutaneous leishmaniasis by immunising with different amounts of antigen: the generation of beneficial, potentially harmful, harmful and potentially extremely harmful states.

Bretscher PA, Ogunremi O, Menon JN.

Department of Microbiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.

Infection of BALB/c mice with a standard and substantial number of Leishmania major parasites results in progressive disease, following the induction of a parasite-specific Th2 response. These mice have been designated as "susceptible" on this basis. We show that distinct types of immune response can be generated in "susceptible" BALB/c mice depending upon the number of parasites employed for infection, and that the pathophysiological consequences of such distinct responses are dramatically different. Infection with very low numbers of parasites results in the exclusive induction of a cell-mediated, Th1 response, and the generation of resistance to the standard and substantial challenge. Spleen cells from such resistant mice can confer resistance upon normal mice when transferred to them, but these spleen cells do not contain T cells expressing DTH or Th1 effector cells that produce IFN gamma on short term culture (48 hrs) with parasite antigen. The immune response in this case appears to result in the virtual elimination of parasites from the lymph node draining the site of infection and, by implication, from the infected mouse. We suggest that such elimination results in the absence of antigen stimulation and hence of effector T cells, and that "memory Th1 cells" are responsible for the capacity of spleen cells to confer resistance on normal mice. We predict such mice will not suffer parasitemia upon immune suppression, i.e. are not susceptible to reactivation disease. This is the "beneficial state". In contrast to this infection with a very low number of parasites infection with a low number usually results in one of two states: (i) The generation of a response with a very small Th2 component, production of a small amount of antibody, chronic parasitemia and hence chronic generation of parasite-specific effector Th1/Th2 cells, or (ii) The generation of a response with a greater Th2 component, the production of more antibody, the formation of a frank lesion, and the long term generation of a stable, mixed Th1/Th2 response. We refer to the latter state as borderline leishmaniasis in analogy with borderline leprosy. Parasites can be recovered from the draining lymph node in both these cases many months after infection. We therefore believe that mice infected with a low number of parasites, that harbour a chronic subclinical infection, will suffer reactivation disease upon immune suppression, and we consequently designate the state generated as potentially harmful. We consider mice with borderline disease to be in a harmful state. Mice immunised with high doses of parasite antigen produce in the long term Th2 responses, whereas those immunised with lower doses produce Th1 responses. Mice immunised to produce a Th2 response were subsequently infected with a very low number of parasites that is normally contained. The generation of a Th2 response results in the generation of a Th2 imprint, such that the response to the low dose infection is modulated from a Th1 to a Th2 mode, resulting in progressive disease. We argue that immunisation/vaccination, resulting in a state that deviates the protective response to a non-protective mode, may result in epidemics. Such a state has the potential for being extremely harmful.

Publication Types:


PMID: 9382736 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

AN: 98020880


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8648203&dopt=Abstract

 
: J Infect Dis 1996 Jun;173(6):1320-6 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut

The effect of Edmonston-Zagreb and Schwarz measles vaccines on immune response in infants.

Hussey GD, Goddard EA, Hughes J, Ryon JJ, Kerran M, Carelse E, Strebel PM, Markowitz LE, Moodie J, Barron P, Latief Z, Sayed R, Beatty D, Griffin DE.

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

The effects of measles immunization on immune responses in infants and the roles of vaccine strain and age of immunization are not known. Eighty-eight children were immunized at 6 or 9 months of age with the Edmonston-Zagreb (EZ) or Schwarz (SW6, SW9) strain of measles vaccine. Children were studied before and 2 weeks and 3 months after immunization. Seroconversion was similar, but geometric mean neutralizing titers at 3 months differed by vaccine group: SW9, 1367 mIU/mL; SW6, 982; and EZ, 303 (P = .003). Mitogen-induced lymphoproliferation was decreased at 2 weeks in the SW9 group and at 3 months in all groups and was negatively correlated with measles antibody level at 3 months (r = -.387, P = .003). CD8 T cells, soluble CD8, neopterin, and beta2-microglobulin were increased at 2 weeks in the SW9 group, and soluble CD8 and beta2-microglobulin remained elevated at 3 months. Therefore, measles immunization resulted in suppression of lymphoproliferation, which was most evident in infants with the highest antibody responses and most immune activation.

Publication Types:


PMID: 8648203 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8814065&dopt=Abstract

 
Arthritis Rheum 1996 Sep;39(9):1529-34 Related Articles, Links

Erratum in:


Chronic arthropathy and musculoskeletal symptoms associated with rubella vaccines. A review of 124 claims submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

Weibel RE, Benor DE.

National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, US Public Health Service, Rockville, Maryland 20857, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To report the outcome of 124 claims of chronic arthropathy associated with rubella vaccine submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. METHODS: Medical records and testimony were reviewed separately by physicians and Special Masters to determine the clinical diagnosis and eligibility for compensation under the Program. RESULTS: Among the 124 subjects with chronic arthropathy, the onset occurred between 1 week and 6 weeks after the rubella vaccination in 72, and < 1 week or > 6 weeks after the vaccination in 52. Various conditions developed in the 2 onset groups (1-6 weeks postvaccination, < 1 week or > 6 weeks postvaccination), including, respectively, unspecified arthritis (n = 29, n = 1), specified arthritis (n = 11, n = 19), arthralgia (n = 24, n = 7), fibromyalgia (n = 4, n = 11), and multiple symptoms with minimal arthralgia or myalgia (n = 4, n = 14). Concordance of medical recommendations by Program physicians and Special Masters' decisions in 56 completed claims was 91%, with awards mainly to patients with chronic unspecified arthritis and arthralgia. CONCLUSION: The Program and the US Court of Federal Claims have accepted a causal relationship between currently used rubella vaccine in the US and some chronic arthropathy with an onset between 1 week and 6 weeks after vaccine administration.

PMID: 8814065 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9115571&dopt=Abstract

 
: J Autoimmun 1996 Dec;9(6):699-703 Related Articles, Links
Click here to read 
Vaccine-induced autoimmunity.

Cohen AD, Shoenfeld Y.

Department of Medicine B & Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.

The current review summarizes case reports attributing autoimmune diseases and phenomena to various vaccines and suggests potential mechanisms. It has to be emphasized that the demonstration of a temporal relationship does not necessarily attribute autoimmunity to a vaccine. The subject is complicated by the fact that one vaccine may cause more than one autoimmune phenomenon, and a particular immune process may be caused by more than one vaccine. Furthermore, vaccines differ in their pathogenic influence on the immune system. There is no doubt that the new recombinant hepatitis B virus vaccine is different from mumps, measles and rubella vaccines in its ability to trigger autoimmunity, probably by completely different mechanisms. The data summarized here suggest that some vaccines may in rare cases induce autoimmune disorders. The subject of the vaccine-autoimmunity relationship is still obscure; reports have been rare, no laboratory experimentation on this topic has been undertaken, and there are few animal models.
For the time being no conclusions can be drawn. Since vaccines are an important prophylactic intervention, the risk-benefit ratio clearly leans towards the advantages of infectious disease prevention. Vaccination routines should not be changed in the healthy population or for patients with known autoimmune disorders. Laborious clinical and laboratory studies should be initiated in order to evaluate the new emerging subject of vaccine-induced autoimmunity.

Publication Types:


PMID: 9115571 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8762935&dopt=Abstract

 
J Radiol 1996 May;77(5):363-6 Related Articles, Links

[Postvaccination myelitis. Aspect and course followed by MRI]

[Article in French]

Abdennebi A, Dumas JL, Salama J, Benromdhane H, Belin C, Goldlust D.

Service de Radiologie, Hopital Avicenne, Bobigny, France.

We report the assessment by MRI of a case of radiculomyelitis after vaccination against tetanus-poliomyelitis. In the acute stage the appearance was an isolated myelitis of the conus medullaris with contrast enhancement. The upper thoracic cord presented central areas of high signal intensity on T2 weighted images. Rapid clinical recovery was correlated with resolution of abnormal enhancement. Follow-up MR at 5 months showed persistence of slight T2 prolongation in the conus medullaris and syringohydromyela of the thoracic cord. A single lesion of the spinal cord is a rare presentation of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, the course of such lesions, to date not previously displayed by MR, is unknown. Proper diagnosis should help prevent administration of further vaccine doses.

PMID: 8762935 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7793384&dopt=Abstract

 
: AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 1995 Mar;16(3):581-2 Related Articles, Links
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MR imaging in a case of postvaccination myelitis.

Tartaglino LM, Heiman-Patterson T, Friedman DP, Flanders AE.

Department of Radiology, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, USA.

We describe a case of acute transverse myelitis after the administration of the recombinant form of hepatitis B vaccine. Abnormal enhancement of MR imaging accompanied residual neurologic deficit.

PMID: 7793384 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7600179&dopt=Abstract

 
Neurodegeneration 1995 Mar;4(1):107-11 Related Articles, Links

Hypothesis: is Alzheimer's disease a metal-induced immune disorder?

Armstrong RA, Winsper SJ, Blair JA.

Aston University, Birmingham.

A hypothesis that a metal-induced immune disorder may be involved in the pathogenesis of some forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is presented. The classical complement pathway is activated in AD and T cells and reactive microglia appear in the brain. Studies of metal induced autoimmunity and the use of compounds containing aluminium as vaccine adjuvants suggest that metals can activate complement and can be taken up by antigen presenting cells. The consequent immune response could contribute to neuronal damage, beta-amyloid deposition and cell death. The strengths and weaknesses of this hypothesis are discussed and tests of some aspects are proposed.

PMID: 7600179 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7835178&dopt=Abstract

 
Doc Ophthalmol 1994;86(4):403-8 Related Articles, Links

Bilateral optic neuritis with branch retinal artery occlusion associated with vaccination.

van de Geijn EJ, Tukkie R, van Philips LA, Punt H.

Department of Ophthalmology, Central Military Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

A case of a 40-year old marine with bilateral optic neuritis and a branch retinal artery occlusion after vaccination is presented. Blood investigations showed no abnormalities. Cerebrospinal fluid studies revealed a lymphocytic pleocytosis and IgG antibodies against hepatitis A and rabies. Computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain were negative. A diagnosis of vaccine-induced auto-immune demyelinative optic neuritis was made. The clinical picture improved after systemic corticosteroid treatment.

PMID: 7835178 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7938876&dopt=Abstract

 
Recenti Prog Med 1994 Sep;85(9):438-40 Related Articles, Links

[Rheumatological manifestations following hepatitis B vaccination. A report of 2 clinical cases]

[Article in Italian]

Biasi D, Carletto A, Caramaschi P, Frigo A, Pacor ML, Bezzi D, Bambara LM.

Istituto di Patologia Speciale Medica, Universita, Verona.

In the literature there are a few occasional case reports of rheumatic manifestations following vaccination. The link between vaccination and musculoskeletal complaints was established on the grounds of the chronological succession between the two events. The occurrence of an individual genetic predisposition has been stressed many times. With regard to immunopathological mechanisms, it has been proposed the vaccination as a trigger of a very autoimmune disease or an immune complex-induced disease. In this paper we describe two females who underwent vaccination against hepatitis B virus. One complained of polyarticular pain that, even if self-limiting, was accompanied by the positivity of RA-test and Waaler-Rose reaction; the other showed migratory arthritis, urticaria and oedema of the glottis and the upper lip, all successfully treated with a short course of corticosteroids. We think these reports are of interest at the time when vaccination against hepatitis B virus is becoming a mass practice.

Publication Types:


PMID: 7938876 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8495082&dopt=Abstract

 
Acta Paediatr 1993 Mar;82(3):267-70 Related Articles, Links

Acute thrombocytopenic purpura following measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. A report on 23 patients.

Nieminen U, Peltola H, Syrjala MT, Makipernaa A, Kekomaki R.

Finnish Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Helsinki.

An acute thrombocytopenic purpura developed shortly after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination in 23 of approximately 700,000 children immunized over a period of seven years. The mean interval from inoculation to the onset of purpura was 19 days. Bone marrow aspirates obtained from 13 patients showed increased or normal amounts of megakaryocytes. Platelet survival time was markedly shortened in the two patients studied. Fifteen patients recovered (the platelet count exceeded 100 x 10(9)/l) in one month, five in two months and two in six months. Increase in platelet-associated immunoglobulin was detected in 10 of 15 patients. Circulating antiplatelet autoantibodies (AAb) against glycoprotein IIb/IIIa were detected in 5 of 15 patients. The findings are compatible with an autoimmune mechanism triggered by immune response to measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. As evaluated by the clinical course and the presence of AAb, post-vaccination thrombocytopenic