Correspondence

Childhood Vaccination and Type 1 Diabetes

N Engl J Med 2004; 351:298July 15, 2004

Article

To the Editor:

The article by Hviid et al. (April 1 issue)1 that suggests no link between childhood vaccination against measles, mumps, and rubella and type 1 diabetes has an important limitation that is all too common in clinical research. The study draws its conclusions from a cohort of Danish children, a group that is more ethnically homogeneous than other groups, including American children.

The problem, of course, is that researchers must conduct many such studies in Scandinavian countries, because those countries have comprehensive national health care databases. Until we in the United States decide to keep more encompassing databases, the research we rely on will tend to apply to minority-group populations only in limited ways.

Jason H. Wasfy, M.Phil.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
jason_wasfy@student.hms.harvard.edu

1 References

1. 1

   Hviid A, Stellfeld M, Wohlfahrt J, Melbye M. Childhood vaccination and type 1 diabetes. N Engl J Med 2004;350:1398-1404
   Full Text | Web of Science | Medline