No link seen between anthrax shots and eye ailment

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Vaccine postmarketing surveillance among U.S. military personnel does not show any association between inflammation of the optic nerve, also called optic neuritis, and immunization against anthrax, smallpox, hepatitis B, or influenza, regardless of whether these vaccines are administered alone or in combination, investigators report.

There have been a number of case reports of a potential association between optic neuritis and receipt of these vaccines, Dr. Daniel C. Payne from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues explain in a report in Archives of Neurology.

To investigate further, they conducted a matched case-control study within the U.S. military. Analyses centered on 1,131 cases of optic neuritis and 3,393 controls matched by sex, military component, and deployment status.

The investigators calculated optic neuritis risks at 6-, 12-, and 18-weeks post vaccination intervals, given that onset of vaccine-mediated optic neuritis would typically occur within several weeks after vaccination, they explain.

Payne and colleagues could find no statistically significant associations between optic neuritis and vaccination with anthrax, smallpox, hepatitis B, and influenza vaccines for any of the three study intervals.

There were also no statistically significant vaccine interactions.

"With questions concerning the safety of anthrax vaccine raised by the media, by some scientists, and by some members of the Armed Forces, the negative findings presented here are important to this vaccine's continuing safety discussion," the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Archives of Neurology June 2006.