Experimental neuritis induced by a mixture of neural antigens and influenza vaccines. A possible model for Guillain-Barré syndrome

The safety of influenza vaccines in children: An Institute for Vaccine Safety white paper

Most influenza vaccines are generally safe, but influenza vaccines can cause rare serious adverse events. Some adverse events, such as fever and febrile seizures, are more common in children than adults. There can be differences in the safety of vaccines in different populations due to underlying differences in genetic predisposition to the adverse event. Live attenuated vaccines have not been studied adequately in children under 2 years of age to determine the risks of adverse events; more studies are needed to address this and several other priority safety issues with all influenza vaccines in children. All vaccines intended for use in children require safety testing in the target age group, especially in young children. Safety of one influenza vaccine in children should not be extrapolated to assumed safety of all influenza vaccines in children. The low rates of adverse events from influenza vaccines should not be a deterrent to the use of influenza vaccines because of the overwhelming evidence of the burden of disease due to influenza in children.

Vaccines and the risk of insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM): potential mechanism of action

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.

Relationship of adjuvants and swine influenza vaccine to experimental neuropathy in rabbits

Experimental neuropathy, characterized by endoneurial edema and demyelination, was induced by inoculating rabbits with a combination of Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA), gangliosides, lecithin and cholesterol. A less severe demyelinating neuropathy could be induced by treatment with FCA alone but no significant change could be elicited by injection of swine influenza vaccine (SFV) alone. When FCA was combined with gangliosides, lecithins, cholesterol and SFV, neuropathy occurred, but the changes were less severe than if these agents were used without SFV. Sera were tested for myelin basic protein (MBP) and galactocerebroside (GC) antibodies in each experimental group. Neither SFV alone nor SFV combined with Freund's complete adjuvant, gangliosides, cholesterol and lecithin evoked significant antibody titers to MBP or GC. However, rabbits inoculated with FCA, gangliosides, lecithin and cholesterol had rising titers of antibody to both MBP and GC over the 3-month experimental period. One rabbit inoculated with FCA alone had significant antibody to MBP. The findings suggest that Freund's complete adjuvant alone can induce demyelination in the peripheral nerves of rabbits and that SFV may modulate the immune response acting either as an adjuvant or suppressant in the experimental demyelinating disease.

Evaluation of evoked potentials and lymphocyte subsets as possible markers of multiple sclerosis: one year follow up of 30 patients

Evoked potentials and T-lymphocyte helper/suppressor ratio (H/S) were evaluated serially together with neurological status in 30 definite multiple sclerosis patients to evaluate their possible role in monitoring disease progression. Evoked potentials in many cases reflected the clinical status of the pathways tested, but some exceptions were observed, probably due to subclinical relapses or physical factors. In some instances the occurrence of subclinical relapses was suggested by increased H/S ratios. Serial H/S values increased in parallel with clinical and subclinical relapses, and seemed to show specific patterns in relation to the type of clinical course (relapsing, stable, chronic progressive). Our results suggest that evoked potentials and H/S ratio serial analysis can contribute to a better assessment of the progress of multiple sclerosis.