infectious disease expert
No, experts have looked into this question and concluded that there's no such connection.
Diabetes, including Type I, or juvenile diabetes, is on the rise, and health experts are understandably concerned. A possible connection between vaccinations and diabetes was first suggested in 1998, when immunologist Bart Classen published studies purporting to show that giving children certain vaccinations starting at 2 months of age raised their risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
Classen's research also seemed to show that immunizing children at birth could protect them from developing diabetes. But experts have identified a number of flaws in Classen's research. At the same time, no other scientists have been able to replicate his findings.
A study published in 2001 looked specifically at whether the timing of childhood vaccinations, particularly of hepatitis B, is related to the risk of a child getting diabetes. This study, which examined data from 1,020 children in the United States, showed no association between any of the recommended childhood vaccines and diabetes, regardless of when the vaccines were given.
In 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reviewed the existing studies and released a report concluding that the scientific evidence doesn't support the theory that immunizations predispose a child to develop diabetes.
In a follow-up study published in 2002 in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, researchers found no evidence that getting the Hib vaccine in infancy is associated with the risk of diabetes later in life.
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