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Childhood vaccinations and risk of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children

Signe Holst Søegaard1, Klaus Rostgaard1, Kjeld Schmiegelow2,3

  • 1Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.

International Journal of Epidemiology
|April 22, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Childhood vaccinations do not protect against childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This large study found no link between vaccines and ALL risk, including specific subtypes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Proposed hypothesis suggests childhood vaccinations modulate immune responses, potentially protecting against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
  • Existing research on vaccination and childhood ALL risk presents inconsistent findings.
  • A lack of population-based cohort studies with longitudinal vaccination data has been noted.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between childhood vaccination and the risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
  • To analyze vaccination's impact on various subtypes of childhood ALL.
  • To provide robust evidence using a nationwide cohort study.

Main Methods:

  • A register-based cohort study included all children born in Denmark between 1990 and 2008.
  • Follow-up extended to 15 years of age or December 31, 2009, encompassing over 1.2 million children.
  • Cox regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for ALL risk in vaccinated versus unvaccinated children.

Main Results:

  • A total of 490 cases of childhood ALL were diagnosed during 10.8 million person-years of follow-up.
  • No significant association was found between the total number of vaccine doses and ALL risk.
  • Specific childhood vaccines, including Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles-mumps-rubella, whole-cell pertussis, and diphtheria-tetanus-inactivated polio, showed no altered risk of ALL.
  • Analyses of ALL subtypes also revealed no association with childhood vaccination.

Conclusions:

  • This nationwide cohort study found no evidence to support the hypothesis that childhood vaccinations protect against childhood ALL.
  • The findings indicate that vaccination does not influence the risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children.
  • Further research may be warranted, but current evidence does not link childhood vaccination to protection against ALL.
Abstract

Keywords:
Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemiaaetiologycohort studyvaccination

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