Meeting Four

Multiple Immunization and Immune Dysfunction

The fourth open public meeting of the Institute of Medicine's Immunization Safety Review Committee was held on November 12, 2001 in Seattle, Washington.

The topic of this meeting was the "Possible Association between Multiple Immunizations in Newborns and Infants and Immune System Dysfunction". The meeting was part of the information gathering process of the committee as it explored two questions: 1) Does the number of vaccines administered 'overload' the capacity of the infant's immature immune system, perhaps impairing immunity to other infections or altering the body's tolerance to self-antigens, and thereby contributing to a greater risk for allergic or autoimmune diseases? 2) Is there a relationship between any of these proposed outcomes and the number, the route of administration, or the nature of the vaccines and vaccine antigens?

To view the meeting agenda, presenter slides and udio files, please click here.

A verbatim transcript of the public meeting is also available from the Public Access Records Office.

Materials Reviewed by the Committee

A Public Access File (PAF) has been created for the Immunization Safety Review Committee, which includes most written materials submitted to the committee from persons who are not officers, employees, or agents of the National Academies. The PAF may be reviewed by making an appointment with the Public Access Records Office (PARO) of the National Academies. The attached list includes most of the PAF records related to the November 12-14 meeting on Multiple Immunizations and Immune Dysfunction. Note that the PAF for this activity is updated continuously and may not be complete at the time of posting. Please check with the PARO if you have any questions regarding the PAF.

Link to the report

Report Brief
Press Release