Lack of association between early childhood immunizations and β-cell autoimmunity

OBJECTIVE- To determine whether early childhood immunization history affects the risk of developing the beta-cell autoimmunity that precedes type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - This article describes a case-control study whose participants were 317 children aged less than or equal to 12 years who have a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes. The children were enrolled in a prospective cohort study of the etiology of beta-cell autoimmunity, the Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young, in Denver, Colorado. The main outcome measure was beta-cell autoimmunity as determined by persistent autoantibodies against insulin, GAD, or islet cell antibody (IA-2) 512. The number of cases with beta-cell autoimmunity was 25, and the number of control subjects (the remainder of the cohort) was 292. RESULTS - There was no difference between cases and control subjects in the proportion receiving hepatitis B (HBV), Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib), polio, or diphtheria tetanus pertussis (DTP) vaccines before 9 months of age; in the proportion receiving HBV at birth rather than later; or in the median age at first HBV, Hib, polio, or DTP vaccination. CONCLUSIONS - The results suggest that changing the early childhood immunization schedule would not affect the risk of developing beta-cell autoimmunity or type 1 diabetes.