Vaccination and Autoimmune Demyelination: Little if Any Risk

In a large case-centered study, no attributable risk for transverse myelitis was found with vaccination. There was an attributable risk of <4 cases per 10 million doses for Tdap causing acute disseminated encephalitis.

Despite little supportive evidence, vaccinations are often avoided because of persistent concerns about triggering an autoimmune acute demyelinating event (ADE). Studies focusing on the association between ADEs and vaccinations are problematic because large numbers of subjects are required and because the ADE may occur many years after vaccination. However, conditions that have an abrupt onset, such as transverse myelitis (TM) and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), are amenable to study of whether vaccines have an association.

In a collaborative effort between Kaiser Permanente and the CDC, researchers used a case-centered design to examine the Vaccine Safety Datalink of more than 9 million patients and nearly 64 million vaccine do…

Reviewing Author

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Vaccination and Autoimmune Demyelination: Little if Any Risk

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Reviewing Author