Could autoimmunity be induced by vaccination?

Int Rev Immunol. 2010 Jun;29(3):247-69. doi: 10.3109/08830181003746304.

Abstract

Autoimmune reactions to vaccinations may rarely be induced in predisposed individuals by molecular mimicry or bystander activation mechanisms. Autoimmune reactions reliably considered vaccine-associated, include Guillain-Barré syndrome after 1976 swine influenza vaccine, immune thrombocytopenic purpura after measles/mumps/rubella vaccine, and myopericarditis after smallpox vaccination, whereas the suspected association between hepatitis B vaccine and multiple sclerosis has not been further confirmed, even though it has been recently reconsidered, and the one between childhood immunization and type 1 diabetes seems by now to be definitively gone down. Larger epidemiological studies are needed to obtain more reliable data in most suggested associations.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Autoimmune Diseases / epidemiology
  • Autoimmune Diseases / etiology*
  • Autoimmune Diseases / immunology*
  • Autoimmunity / drug effects
  • Bystander Effect / drug effects
  • Bystander Effect / immunology
  • Communicable Disease Control
  • Disease Susceptibility
  • Humans
  • Molecular Mimicry / drug effects
  • Molecular Mimicry / immunology
  • Risk Factors
  • Vaccination*
  • Vaccines / adverse effects*

Substances

  • Vaccines