Vaccinations and Risk of Central Nervous System Demyelinating Diseases in Adults

Abstract

SEVERAL CASE reports of onset or recurrence of symptoms of demyelination after vaccination have raised concerns that vaccines may cause or exacerbate multiple sclerosis (MS) or other central nervous system (CNS) demyelinating disorders. Although the greatest concern has been with hepatitis B vaccine,^1-11 there also have been several reports after influenza vaccination^12-22 and other vaccines.^23-31 It is difficult, however, to infer causality from individual case reports. The reported cases may simply represent coincidental temporal associations with vaccination.