A flu vaccine during pregnancy protects the children and women from illness, but does it also have long-term risks? A decade-long follow-up study refutes this
From: Karolinska Institute of Medicine. Translation: Ziv Adaki. Thanks also to Ofer Ben Hurin.
Two recent studies failed to rule out a link between "Pandemrix" (H1N1) swine flu vaccine and the seasonal flu vaccine given to pregnant women, and the appearance of syndromes on the autism spectrum in their offspring. Now, a large study conducted by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, denies any such connection.
Syndromes on the autism spectrum are severe neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by communication impairments, lack of social skills and reactive behavior. The disease begins in childhood.
While some studies show that a flu vaccine during pregnancy protects the children and women from illness, the long-term risks of maternal swine flu vaccination have not been thoroughly examined. However, two recent studies failed to rule out the connection between women being vaccinated against seasonal flu or swine flu during pregnancy and a high risk of their offspring getting autism, especially women who were vaccinated in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Prof. Younes P. Ludvigson, a pediatrician at Arbro University Hospital and a professor in the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, at the Karolinska Institute. Credit: Gustav Mårtensson
Researchers from the Karolinska Institute combined information on vaccinations of pregnant women from seven regional health systems in Sweden in 2009-2010 with data from the Swedish Medical Register of Births and the Swedish National Patient Register to identify syndromes on the autism spectrum among the offspring.
The importance of vaccine research
Out of 39,726 children who were exposed to the vaccine, 394 (incidence Cumulative 1.0%) were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders in the six years of follow-up, compared to 330 (1.1%) out of 29,293 children who were not exposed to the vaccine. Under possible biases, the data show that exposure to the swine flu vaccine during fetal life is not associated with an increase in autism diagnosis later in childhood (Adjusted hazard ratio of 0.95, 95% confidence interval of 0.81–1.1 ). The results were similar for vaccines in the first trimester of pregnancy.
"Our findings are important because people have suspected that vaccines can cause autism, and the anti-vaccine movement seems to be growing in the Western world," says the lead author of the article Prof. Jonas F. Ludvigsson, a pediatrician at Örebro University Hospital and Prof. in the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, at the Karolinska Institute. "The swine flu vaccine was previously linked to an increase in the risk of necropsy in young people, but vaccinating pregnant women does not seem to have an effect on the risk of autism in the offspring."
He continues: "Vaccine research has never been so important, as we await the corona vaccine, which will surely be offered to millions of pregnant women. Although our research group did not deal with the effect of a vaccine against Corona, the study adds to the existing knowledge about vaccines, pregnancy and offspring morbidity in general."
the relation to other factors
The researchers examined their analyzes in light of other risk factors, such as maternal smoking, height-weight, maternal age and co-morbidity in order to reduce the influence of these factors, which may explain the link between vaccination and autism.
"If these variables are not taken into account, incorrect links may be created, which do not reflect the actual relationship," adds Prof. Bjorn Pasternak, co-author of the article, from the Department of Medicine at the Karolinska Institute (Solna).
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- Research has discovered what happens in the brains of children with autism when they sleep
- Study: C-sections under general anesthesia increase the risk of autism
- Autism and vaccines: More than half of Brits, French and Italians still think there may be a link
- Autism begins already after birth * a relationship between premature births, late births, and low birth weight and autism at an older age
One response
What do you think about testing an immune response stimulator according to its type and quantity and not to the ear of the virus?
Including this produced in genetically modified food with the aim of producing it