Is the Increase in the Childhood Vaccine Schedule Causing an Increase in Childhood Arthritis?

For people who think of arthritis as a disease of the elderly, learning that children also suffer from arthritic conditions may come as a shock. Across age groups, various forms of arthritis are a growing public health problem in the United States. Over one four-year period (2001-2004), the number of ambulatory care visits for pediatric arthritis and other rheumatologic conditions increased by 50%. The medical community lumps childhood arthritic disorders under the broader umbrella of “juvenile rheumatoid arthritis” or “juvenile idiopathic arthritis” (JIA). “Idiopathic” means “no identifiable cause.” An emerging consensus points to environmental factors as major contributors to JIA, with childhood infections attracting particular attention. In light of the interest in infections, how do we explain the deafening silence about the possible role of vaccines as an autoimmune trigger for JIA, when the stock-in-trade of vaccination is the “mimicking [of] a natural infection”? One study out of Brazil alludes to case reports linking autoimmune rheumatic diseases such as JIA to vaccination—but quickly dismisses the vaccine hypothesis as “controversial.” However, American children suffering from JIA and other debilitating autoimmune disorders deserve to know whether the dozens of vaccines they receive through age 18 are at least partially responsible for their misfortune.