Immune-mediated myelitis following hepatitis B vaccination

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an important international cause of infectious acute and chronic liver diseases. HBV vaccines were developed to combat the potential life-threatening effects of HBV infection. Published case histories, retrospective reviews and analyses of epidemiological data report on the onset of immune-mediated myelitis after recombinant HBV vaccination, mostly in adults with a presumed genetic/immunologic predisposition. However, HBV vaccination has not borne out to be a significant trigger of serious autoimmune events, including acute myelitis, in populations at large over prolonged observation periods after immunization. Published study methods lack the sensitivity to categorically establish a causal relationship between exposure to HBV vaccine components and immune mediated myelitis, but in practice the faint possibility of such a link should not be totally rejected. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.