The Los Angeles Times, 5/18/00, ©2000

Vaccines, Gulf War Syndrome Link Studied

British researchers say chronic symptoms of veterans may be due in part to the numerous shots they received before combat.
 
The Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles, Calif.; May 18, 2000
By PAUL RICHTER; 

Abstract:
A new study by British researchers suggests that there may be a link between the mysterious Gulf War syndrome that plagued tens of thousands of veterans and the practice of giving troops multiple vaccinations before combat.
The study, to be published today in the British Medical Journal, finds "a specific relation between multiple vaccination and later poor health" among veterans of the 1990-91 conflict between a U.S.- led coalition and Iraq.
The new study, conducted by six researchers at King's College, London, used a questionnaire to examine the medical histories of 3,284 of the 53,462 troops from the United Kingdom who served in the Gulf War. It focused particularly on 928 troops who had records establishing that they had received some of the nine vaccines administered to United Kingdom troops, including those for anthrax, plague, tetanus, cholera and hepatitis A and B.
 (Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 2000 all Rights reserved)

Full Text:

A new study by British researchers suggests that there may be a link between the mysterious Gulf War syndrome that plagued tens of thousands of veterans and the practice of giving troops multiple vaccinations before combat.

The study, to be published today in the British Medical Journal, finds "a specific relation between multiple vaccination and later poor health" among veterans of the 1990-91 conflict between a U.S.- led coalition and Iraq.

While the vaccines themselves do not seem to be harmful, the study says, when combined with the stress of deployment, "they may be associated with adverse health outcomes."

The researchers acknowledged that more study is needed but said that their findings could be used by opponents of the Pentagon's controversial program of giving anthrax vaccines to U.S. troops who are headed abroad.

Medical researchers have been looking for the cause of the syndrome since veterans returned home from the Persian Gulf and began complaining of fatigue, rashes, insomnia, digestive problems, poor concentration, nausea, joint pains and other symptoms.

The new study, conducted by six researchers at King's College, London, used a questionnaire to examine the medical histories of 3,284 of the 53,462 troops from the United Kingdom who served in the Gulf War. It focused particularly on 928 troops who had records establishing that they had received some of the nine vaccines administered to United Kingdom troops, including those for anthrax, plague, tetanus, cholera and hepatitis A and B.

The researchers found that those who had received the vaccines in combination had a higher likelihood of health problems, such as post- traumatic stress reaction, fatigue, psychological distress and poor physical functioning. The results indicate that troops who received multiple vaccinations during deployment had a higher risk of later health problems. Those who were given them earlier did not.