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Abstract: According to Hippocratic tradition, the safety level of a preventive medicine must be very high, as it is aimed at protecting people against diseases that they may not contract. This paper points out that information on the safety of hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) is biased as compared to classical requirements of evidence-based medicine (EBM), as exemplified by a documented selectivity in the presentation or even publication of available clinical or epidemiological data. Then, a review is made of data suggesting that HBV is remarkable by the frequency, the severity and the variety of its complications, some of them probably related to a mechanism of molecular mimicry leading to demyelinating diseases, and the others reproducing the spectrum of non-hepatic manifestations of natural hepatitis B. To be explained, this unusual spectrum of toxicity requires additional investigations based upon complete release of available data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Among the numerous consequences of globalization, the dissemination of scientific research allows real-time comparisons of clinical and basic experimental data between different geographical areas. As a result, the field of geoepidemiology is now vigorously supported by multiple lines of evidence. This special issue of Autoimmunity Reviews is dedicated to the 2010 International Congress on Autoimmunity and aims to provide a state-of-the-art representation of what is currently known in the field of geoepidemiology for autoimmune diseases. The obvious implications of these observations is a role for environmental factors. We will herein review selected publications from prominent scientific journals to provide the bases to understand some of the lines of evidence proposed in the subsequent papers of this comprehensive volume. The ultimate goal is thus to define whether geoepidemiology should be considered a new challenge for autoimmunologists. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]