No link found between MS and vaccinations

Various case reports of people developing MS symptoms shortly after being vaccinated for diseases such as hepatitis B and the flu have spurred speculation that these vaccinations may cause or trigger the onset of MS. To study whether these case reports indicate a true connection or simply coincidence, a group of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared the vaccination histories of people with MS and/or optic neuritis with those of matched controls. The 440 cases and 950 controls were obtained from three HMOs, and vaccination histories were taken from medical records as well as self-reports.

The researchers found no evidence that vaccination for hepatitis B, tetanus, influenza, measles, or rubella increased the risk of MS. These findings support previous epidemiologic studies that found no link between the hepatitis B vaccine and risk of MS, and provide the first indications that the other vaccines studied likewise do not trigger or cause MS.