title: Lack of broad functional differences in immunity in fully vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Concerns have been raised that with an increase in the number of vaccines administered early in life, immune development could be altered, leading to either increased or decreased immune reactivity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the impact of vaccination on immune status, contrasting the immune response to general, nonantigen-specific stimuli in a cohort of entirely unvaccinated vs. fully vaccinated children at 3-5 y of age. Innate immunity was assessed by quantifying bulk and cell-type-specific cytokine production in response to stimulation with pathogen associated microbial patterns. Adaptive immune status was characterized by assessing lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production in response to generic T cell stimuli.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our investigations failed to reveal a broadly evident alteration of either innate or adaptive immunity in vaccinated children. Equivalently robust innate and adaptive responses to pathogen associated microbial patterns and generic T cell stimulants were observed in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although our sample size was small, our data suggest that standard childhood vaccinations do not lead to long-lasting gross alterations of the immune system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Ashley M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sherrid
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Candice E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Ruck
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Department of Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Vaccine Evaluation Center, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Tobias R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kollmann
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines