There is an epidemic in children of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome including individual diseases that form the components of metabolic syndrome. The epidemic resembles the epidemic of type 1 diabetes in children which has been linked to immunization. The epidemic of obesity in US children has a statistically significant positive correlation with the number of vaccine doses recommended. There is a similar trend with both hypertension and metabolic syndrome. The incidence of type 2

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... s in Japanese children decreased significantly following the discontinuation of the BCG vaccine, a vaccine which is associated with an increased risk of type 1 diabetes. This paper describes two aberrant responses to immunization. At one extreme immunization leads to progressive autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes. A second response to immunization, and an opposite extreme to autoimmunity, is for the body to suppress the immune system through increased cortisol activity and other counter measures leading to type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Some vaccine recipients may have a mixed response, falling between the extremes, such as an incomplete autoimmune disorder or an intermittent autoimmune disorder. The propensity to develop a particular response relates to race. Japanese children produce large amounts of cortisol following immunization and have lower risk of type 1 diabetes but higher risk of type 2 diabetes than White children. Analysis using Austin Bradford-Hill criteria for causation support a causal relation between immunization and metabolic syndrome. Additional studies are needed to further characterize this risk.