~~~~ Thanks Kathi ~~~~
Jab linked to multiple sclerosis
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3651782.stm
People who are vaccinated against hepatitis B are at increased risk of
multiple sclerosis, a study shows.
US public health experts found the link when they looked at data on
more than 1,500 UK patients.
The Harvard team does not know whether the vaccine causes MS in those
prone to the disease or speeds up MS in those destined to have it.
The benefits of protecting against hepatitis might outweigh any risk,
wrote the authors in Neurology.
Immunisation against hepatitis B was associated with a three-fold
increase in the incidence of MS Lead researcher Dr Miguel Hernàn
In the UK, people who are at increased risk of hepatitis B because of
their lifestyle, occupation or other factors such as close contact
with a case or carrier are advised to be immunised against this virus.
It is passed from person to person through blood contact. The virus
may also be present in saliva, vaginal secretions, and other body
fluids.
This means people at high risk include intravenous drug misusers,
individuals who change ***ual partners frequently, health care
workers, prisoners and prison staff and those travelling to areas of
high prevalence such as the Far East.
Conflicting evidence
About one in four infected of those with hepatitis B will develop a
serious liver disease such as chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver
cancer develops after a number of years.
In recent years, concerns have been raised that the vaccine may
trigger serious autoimmune diseases, especially multiple sclerosis
These fears were fueled in the 1990s when about 200 people in France
developed MS shortly after receiving the hepatitis B vaccine.
In February 2001, the results of a long-term study of hepatitis B
vaccine and MS in nurses were published in the New England Journal of
Medicine.
This study, by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health, found
no link between the two.
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