Is there a causal link between hepatitis B vaccination and multiple sclerosis?
Monteyne P; Andr FE SmithKline Beecham Biologicals, rue de l’Institut, 89, B-1330, Rixensart, Belgium. Philippe.Monteyne@sbbio.be After the publication of case reports of hepatitis B vaccinees with onset or relapse of multiple sclerosis (MS), followed by a media-driven scare campaign in France, the perception that hepatitis B vaccine causes MS has developed. This has led to a fall in the acceptance of hepatitis B vaccination particularly in French-speaking communities which was accelerated by court decisions in favour of vaccination “victims” and the suspension of routine vaccination of pre-adolescents in French schools as a “precautionary measure”. This situation has arisen in spite of the absence of scientific data to support a causal link between vaccination and multiple sclerosis. In this article, initially written to inform and reassure employees of one of the vaccine manufacturers, the epidemiological importance of hepatitis B and current knowledge on the aetiology of MS are desc
