Do vaccines cause transverse myelitis?

By Michael Levy
Backed by Stephanie Robogeisha, Kathleen Dodson Greenberg, Denny Luan, Hwa Huang, Chelsea Otakan, Cindy Wu, and 11
Johns Hopkins University
Cockeysville, Maryland
Medicine
Open Access
$351
Raised of $5,000 Goal
8%
Ended on 8/01/14
Campaign Ended
  • $351
    pledged
  • 8%
    funded
  • Finished
    on 8/01/14

About This Project

Transverse myelitis (TM) is a rare condition in which one's own immune system attacks the spinal cord causing neurological damage leading to weakness in the arms and legs, sensory loss, pain and bowel/bladder dysfunction. The cause of TM is unknown but activation of the immune system by vaccines is suspected to play a role in some. We want to investigate this potential link among our TM population by tracing last confirmed vaccine in patients.

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What is the context of this research?

The Transverse Myelitis Center at Johns Hopkins was founded in 1999 and currently serves a broad patient population across the United States and around the world. We see patients with transverse myelitis (TM) of all causes including multiple sclerosis, rheumatologic diseases like lupus, neuromyelitis optica and idiopathic TM. In the laboratory, we investigate the cause of TM and test various drugs and stem cell therapies to try to reduce the neurological damage caused by TM.

What is the significance of this project?

We do not know if there is a link between vaccines and TM.

The question of the role of vaccines in causing TM has been posed many times over the past 20 years but no studies have definitively proven or disproven a link. With the number of vaccines and the increasing use of vaccines among Americans of all ages, it is critical that we learn about any potential risks of immune activation in causing TM.

What are the goals of the project?

We will:

1. Create a database of patients with TM of all etiologies to study.
2. Review and document patients' vaccines records.
3. Correlate the chronology between vaccine records and TM
4. Determine if there is a statistical link between vaccine use and TM

Budget

The funding will be used to cover the costs of creating the patient database, vaccine record retrieval, statistical analysis and publication.

Meet the Team

Michael Levy
Michael Levy

Team Bio

Dr. Michael Levy directs the NMO Clinic and sees TM and NMO patients in clinic every other Monday. He completed the MD/PhD program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX (where he grew up), and trained in the neurology residency and fellowship programs at Johns Hopkins before joining the faculty in 2009. In addition seeing patients with TM and NMO, Dr. Levy also runs clinical trials in TM and NMO and runs a basic science laboratory devoted to the finding the cure to TM and NMO.

Lab Notes

Nothing posted yet.

Additional Information

Johns Hopkins NMO Clinic

Project Backers

  • 7Backers
  • 8%Funded
  • $351Total Donations
  • $50.14Average Donation