Cumulative Incidence of Childhood-Onset IDDM is Unaffected by Pertussis Immunization
- Harald Heijbel, MD,
- Robert T Chen, MD and
- Gisela Dahlquist, MD, PHD
- Swedish Institute of Infectious Disease Control Stockholm
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Umeå Umeaå Sweden
- National Immunization Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, Georgia
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Harald Heijbel, MD, MPH, Swedish Institute of Infectious Disease Control, Box 638, S-22009 Lund, Sweden. E-mail: harald.heijbel{at}smi.ki.se
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To identify a possible effect of pertussis vaccination in infancy on the risk for developing human IDDM.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A comparison was made of the cumulative incidence of IDDM in children age 0–12 years between two birth cohorts born before pertussis vaccination and two birth cohorts born after pertussis vaccination had been excluded from the Swedish national immunization program. The Swedish Childhood Diabetes registry was used to identify cases of IDDM. Yearly nurse reports on administered vaccines were used to determine coverage for diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTP) and diphtheria/tetanus (DT) vaccines. Pertussis vaccine coverage was estimated based on number of doses of vaccine made available on license.
RESULTS No difference in cumulative incidence rate of IDDM up to the age of 12 years was found when the birth cohorts for 1978 and 1979 with high DTP vaccination coverage were compared with the cohorts of 1980 and 1981 with low pertussis vaccination coverage.
CONCLUSIONS The comparison of the cumulative incidence of IDDM, up to the age of 12 years, in birth cohorts with high and low exposure to pertussis vaccine does not support the hypothesis that pertussis could induce autoimmunity to the β-cell that may lead to IDDM.
- Received May 8, 1996.
- Revision received September 26, 1996.
- Accepted September 26, 1996.
- Copyright © 1997 by the American Diabetes Association
