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No link between anthrax vaccines and optic neuritis, study shows
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Vaccination against anthrax and other infectious diseases does not cause optic neuritis, according to new research.
Daniel C. Payne, MD, and colleagues conducted an analysis within the U.S. military on 1,131 cases of optic neuritis and 3,393 healthy patients. The groups were matched by sex, military component and deployment status, according to a report in Reuters Health.
The researchers could not find a statistically significant association between optic nerve inflammation and vaccination with anthrax, smallpox, hepatitis B and influenza vaccines. Additionally, no difference in the risk of optic neuritis was found when the researchers compared patients who received no dose, one dose or two doses of the anthrax vaccine, according to the study.
“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 said in the Reuters report.
The study was published in the June issue of Archives of Neurology.