Do Vaccinations Influence the Development of Alzheimer Disease?

Authors

Avram S Bukhbinder
Yaobin Ling
Kristofer Harris
Xiaoqian Jiang
Paul E Schulz

Publication Date

8-1-2023

Journal

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics

Abstract

A growing literature supports a protective association between vaccines targeting an array of pathogens (e.g., influenza, pneumococcus, herpes zoster) and the risk of Alzheimer disease (AD). This article discusses the potential underlying mechanisms for this apparent protective effect of immunizations against infectious pathogens on the risk of AD; explores the basic and pharmacoepidemiologic evidence for this association, with particular attention paid to important methodological variations among the epidemiologic studies; and reviews the remaining uncertainties regarding the effects of anti-pathogen vaccines on Alzheimer disease and all-cause dementia, with recommendations for future directions to address those uncertainties.

Keywords

Humans, Alzheimer Disease, Vaccination, Influenza Vaccines, Immunization, Influenza, Human, Diphtheria-Tetanus-acellular Pertussis Vaccines

DOI

10.1080/21645515.2023.2216625

PMID

37291109

PMCID

PMC10332212

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

6-8-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes