Hepatitis B vaccine cleared of MS danger

The hepatitis B vaccine does not cause multiple sclerosis or related neurological disorders, and it prevents a serious infection that can cause fatal liver cancer, says a report issued by the Institute of Medicine.

The report is the third in a series by experts who are looking at vaccines to see if these may cause serious side-effects.

Hepatitis B is a virus transmitted in body fluids, and can be passed on sexually, by sharing needles, in hospitals, or through transfusions. It can damage the liver and even cause liver cancer, liver failure and death.

More than 1 billion people worldwide are infected, and one in 20 Americans carries the virus.

Children in the United States are now routinely vaccinated against the virus, but some fear the vaccine may have serious side-effects, including the development of multiple sclerosis.

This is caused when the immune system attacks the nerve fibres. It can cause fatigue and eventually completely debilitate a patient. It affects an estimated 300,000 Americans.

The hepatitis B vaccine has also been linked with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a similar disease.

"Hepatitis B vaccine policy has been viewed sceptically by some because of concerns about vaccine safety and a perception that the virus itself does not pose a serious risk," said Dr Marie McCormick of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study.

She said her committee found no strong evidence to suggest the vaccination could cause such diseases, but it recommended that experts keep an eye on the issue.

"Hopefully our report will ease the concerns of adults who need to be immunised against hepatitis B and are worried about the risk of multiple sclerosis," she said.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that without widespread vaccination, more than 18,000 American children would have been infected with hepatitis B and 3000 would have eventually died from cirrhosis or liver cancer.

The Institute of Medicine, one of the National Academies of Sciences, was set up to advise the US Government on health issues. In February McCormick's panel found no link between multiple childhood vaccinations and type I diabetes, pneumonia, meningitis or other infections.

Last year it reported there was no strong evidence that the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine might cause autism.

- REUTERS

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