Mechanisms of Aluminum Adjuvant Revealed: Vaccine Risks to Children Clarified

Gaia Health

January 14, 2012

A new journal report destroys the concept that adjuvant-based vaccines are safe for children. The methods by which aluminum acts as a vaccine adjuvant and how that can affect a developing child are examined. It leaves little room to doubt that we’ve been playing with the health and future of our children. The report demonstrates that genuine investigation into vaccine risks has not been undertaken. The means by which both immunological and neurological damage occur are explained. The study by Lucija Tomljenovic and Christopher Shaw, entitled “Mechanisms of aluminum adjuvant toxicity and autoimmunity in pediatric populations”, was just published in the journal Lupus. It starts with a direct, but gently worded, statement of the issue:

Aluminum(Al )is highly neurotoxic and has been shown to impair both prenatal and postnatal brain development in humans and experimental animals. In addition to its neurotoxic properties, Al is a potent stimulator of the immune system, which is the very reason why it is used as an adjuvant. Given this, it is somewhat surprising to find that in spite of over 80 years of use, the safety of Al adjuvants continues to rest on assumptions rather than  scientific evidence.

The article is heavily-cited, and all factual claims are backed up by citations of studies.

Aluminum As an Adjuvant

Aluminum has long been used as an adjuvant in vaccines because of its well-known strong stimulatory effects on the immune system. If it isn’t added to most vaccines, they cannot provoke an adequate immune response. The paper points out the known conditions that cause the autoimmune inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA). Disorders of ASIA include arthritis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, macrophagic myofasciitis, and Gulf War syndrome. In adults, long term persistence of aluminum is known to lead to mental decline, as in Alzheimer’s disease, and autoimmune disorders. Its use as an adjuvant has only been presumed to be safe, but has never been seriously subjected to scientific study. The article goes on to state:

Yet, in spite of these observations children continue regularly to be exposed to much higher levels of Al adjuvants than adults, via routine childhood vaccination programmes.

An additional concern to using a neurotoxic substance such as Al as an adjuvant in pediatric vaccine formulations is the fact that infants and young children should not be considered simply as “small adults” when it comes to toxicological risk. In spite of this, a review of the literature to date relating to Al-toxicology indicates that the vast majority of previous research and testing has been dedicated to Al exposure in adults.

The Question: Are Aluminum Adjuvants a Toxic Risk to Children?

The paper describes five areas of concern regarding the use of aluminum adjuvants in children’s vaccines.

• During critical periods in brain development, even very small immune challenges can result in permanent harmful changes in brain and immune system functions. Experimentation has shown that even a single hepatitis B vaccine administered to a newborn primate can cause significant developmental delays in suckling responses required for survival.
• Preschool-aged children are routinely subjected to significant aluminum exposure through multiple vaccinations, which are repeated at short intervals. This is done during critical neurological development periods. Therefore, high exposures to the known neuro- and immuno-toxic aluminum adjuvant should be considered risky unless proven otherwise.
• It’s generally believed that immune responses caused by adjuvants, as opposed to the antigens presented in vaccines, have no effect on brain function. However, there is “overwhelming research evidence” that clearly contradicts this belief. [It’s truly curious that such a concept could ever have been developed. By what logic does anyone assume that no harm can come from the injection of a substance that is known to be toxic and is also known to stimulate the immune system ? This seems like magical thinking, not logic—and it’s certainly not science-based. -Ed.]
• The same components of the neuro-immune regulatory system that have key roles in both brain development and immune function are heavily affected by aluminum adjuvants.
• Experiments have shown that genetic resistance to autoimmune disorders can be overcome by strong adjuvant effects.

Any one of these concerns should be indicative of the need for investigation into the use of aluminum adjuvants in children’s vaccines

Read Full Article…