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Metals
SYNOPSIS
Children with ASD have higher urinary levels of mercury and lead.
TITLE
Altered urinary porphyrins and mercury exposure as biomarkers for autism severity in Egyptian children with autism spectrum disorder
CITATION
Khaled EM, Meguid NA, Bjørklund G, et al. Metabolic Brain Disease 2016. DOI 10.1007/s11011-016-9870-6.
SUMMARY
Results of this case-control study showed that children with ASD had higher urinary levels of mercury and lead as well as porphyrins that are characteristic of mercury toxicity as compared to non-ASD control children. Porphyrins are complex molecules that are processed in the body through a series of chemical reactions. Mercury poisons the enzymes that are needed in the process, causing a buildup in the body of excess levels of specific porphyrins. The porphyrins for mercury toxicity also correlated with autism severity in ASD patients.
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Aluminum in vaccines is highly neurotoxic and exposure levels given to infants have dramatically increased.
TITLE
Aluminum in Childhood Vaccines Is Unsafe
CITATION
Neil Z. Miller. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Winter 2016.
SUMMARY
“Infants and young children throughout the world receive high quantities of aluminum from multiple inoculations. Incremental changes to the vaccination schedule during the past several years significantly increased the quantity of aluminum in childhood shots. Numerous studies provide compelling evidence that injected aluminum can be detrimental to health. Aluminum is capable of remaining in cells long after vaccination and may cause neurologic and autoimmune disorders. During early development, the child’s brain is more susceptible to toxins and the kidneys are less able to eliminate them. Thus, children have a greater risk than adults of adverse reactions to aluminum in vaccines. Millions of children every year are injected with vaccines containing mercury and aluminum despite well-established experimental evidence of the potential for additive or synergistic toxicity when an organism is exposed to two or more toxic metals.”
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Thimerosal reduces people’s ability to make all-important vitamin B12 compounds that help the body detoxify and control inflammation—and B12 deficiencies and severely impaired detoxification are hallmarks of autism.
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Alternatively spliced methionine synthase in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells: Cobalamin and GSH dependence and inhibitory effects of neurotoxic metals and thimerosal
CITATION
Waly M, Power-Charnitsky V-A, Hodgson N, … Deth R. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2016, Article ID 6143753.
SUMMARY
Thimerosal inhibited cellular production of cobalamin necessary for detoxification and amelioration of oxidative stress. This caused lower methionine synthase activity and an impaired methylation capacity. Autistic subjects in general show cobalamin deficiencies and severely impaired methylation.
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There is a significant increase in neurodevelopmental delays in children exposed to both Thimerosal (in vaccines) and methylmercury (in fish).
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Neurodevelopment of Amazonian children exposed to ethylmercury (from Thimerosal in vaccines) and methylmercury (from fish)
CITATION
Marques RC, Abreu L, Bernardi JVE, Dórea JG. Environmental Research. 2016;149:259–265.
SUMMARY
Amazonian children exposed to high and low levels of both ethyl- and methylmercury were assessed using the Mental Developmental Index and Psychomotor Developmental Index. The researchers observed statistically significant differences in the high-exposure group at 24 months in the Mental Developmental Index. Combined exposures led to developmental delays, including the age of talking and the age of walking.
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Mercury exposure is implicated in neuroinflammatory disorders including autism.
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The levels of blood mercury and inflammatory-related neuropeptides in the serum are correlated in children with autism spectrum disorder
CITATION
Mostafa GA, Bjørklund G, Urbina MA, Al-Ayadhi LY. Metabolic Brain Disease. 2016;31:593–599.
SUMMARY
Blood mercury levels and tachykinins (neuropeptides that cause inflammation) were correlated in children with ASD and statistically significantly higher than neurotypical control children. It has been shown that mercury exposure can elicit tachykinin formation, which has been implicated in neuroinflammatory disorders including autism.
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The specific mechanism of action of each vaccine adjuvant may have different effects on the course of autoimmune conditions resulting from vaccination.
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On vaccine’s adjuvants and autoimmunity: Current evidence and future perspectives
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Pellegrino P, Clementi E, Radice S. Autoimmunity Reviews. 2015;14(10):880-888.
SUMMARY
Adjuvants in vaccines have been implicated in “Autoimmune/inflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants” (ASIA), an umbrella of clinical conditions that includes post-vaccination adverse reactions. Aluminum-based compounds, in particular, are associated with the development of vaccine adjuvant-induced autoimmune diseases, but vaccines with other adjuvants may also cause specific autoimmune adverse reactions via different pathogenic mechanisms. The specific mechanism of action of each single adjuvant may have different effects on the course of different diseases.
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Autistic children accumulate metals at a much higher level than children who do not have a diagnosis of autism.
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Assessment of hair aluminum, lead, and mercury in a sample of autistic Egyptian children: Environmental risk factors of heavy metals in autism
CITATION
El Baz Mohamed F, Zaky EA, Bassuoni EI-Sayed A, et al. Behavioural Neurology. 2015, Article ID 545674.
SUMMARY
Researchers found the mean levels of mercury, lead and aluminum in hair of autistic patients were significantly higher than in controls. Mercury, lead and aluminum levels were positively correlated with maternal fish consumption, living near gasoline stations and the usage of aluminum pans, respectively.
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There is evidence of a significant relationship between increasing organic mercury exposure from Thimerosal-containing vaccines and the subsequent risk of PDD diagnosis in males and females.
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A Case-Control Study Evaluating the Relationship Between Thimerosal-Containing Haemophilus influenzae Type b Vaccine Administration and the Risk for a Pervasive Developmental Disorder Diagnosis in the United States
CITATION
David A. Geier & Janet K. Kern & Paul G. King & Lisa K. Sykes & Mark R. Geier; Biological Trace Element Research, (2015) 163:28–38.
SUMMARY
In this case-control study of pervasive development disorder (PDD) in U.S. children, cases were consistently exposed to higher levels of thimerosal via infant vaccines at both 6 months of age and 15 months of age, based specifically on Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines. Differences between exposures in cases and controls were statistically significant at both ages evaluated.
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Thimerosal and methylmercury cause cell death in human neurons.
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Toxicity of organic and inorganic mercury species in differentiated human neurons and human astrocytes
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Lohren H, Blagojevic L, Fitkau R, et al. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology. 2015;32:200–208.
SUMMARY
Thimerosal and methylmercury caused cell death in differentiated human neurons and astrocytes. Differentiated neurons showed a massive uptake of ethylmercury (degradation product of thimerosal). This affirms the type of neural damage seen in patients with autism.
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Thimerosal exposure led to the death of neuroblastoma and liver cells due to inhibition of thioredoxin-based cellular metabolism. This is similar to neuronal damage associated with autistic disorder.
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Toxicological effects of thiomersal and ethylmercury: Inhibition of the thioredoxin system and NADP+-dependent dehydrogenases of the pentose phosphate pathway
CITATION
Juan Rodrigues, Vasco Branc, Jun Lu, Arne Holmgren, Cristina Carvalho. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 286 (2015) 216–223.
SUMMARY
This study demonstrates that Thimerosal and especially Ethylmercury affect specifically the antioxidant thioredoxin cycle and the production of NADPH by impairing the oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway, therefore showing that Trx, TrxR, G6PDH and 6PGDH are important molecular targets for these mercurial compounds. The impairment of these enzymes originates detrimental effects which are especially relevant to the central nervous system.
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Thimerosal exposure in humans is associated with neurodevelopmental deficits even at levels currently administered in vaccines.
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Thimerosal: Clinical, epidemiologic and biochemical studies
CITATION
Geier DA, King PG, Hooker BS, Dórea JG, Kern JK, Sykes LK, Geier MR. Clinica Chimica Acta. 2015;444:212–220.
SUMMARY
This review article includes a section on numerous papers linking thimerosal exposure via infant vaccines to autism. The publication also includes a critique of studies supported or conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that deny any associations between exposure to thimerosal in vaccines and the subsequent development of autism. Congress has criticized the CDC for conflicts of interest related to its vaccine development activities and role in vaccine safety oversight.
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Research confirms a link between environmental mercury exposure and an increased risk of autism and shows that some individuals are more susceptible than others.
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Increased susceptibility to ethylmercury-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in a subset of autism lymphoblastoid cell lines
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Rose S, Wynne R, Frye RE, Melnyk S, James SJ. Journal of Toxicology. 2015, Article ID 573701.
SUMMARY
The association of autism spectrum disorders with oxidative stress, redox imbalance, and mitochondrial dysfunction has become increasingly recognized. In this study, researchers compared mitochondrial respiration in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from individuals with autism and unaffected controls exposed to ethylmercury, an environmental toxin known to deplete glutathione and induce oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. They also tested whether pretreating the autism LCLs with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) to increase glutathione concentrations conferred protection from ethylmercury. The findings suggest that the link between environmental mercury exposure and an increased risk of developing autism may be mediated through mitochondrial dysfunction and support the notion that a subset of individuals with autism may be vulnerable to environmental influences with detrimental effects on development through mitochondrial dysfunction.
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Supplementation with Allium cepa L. significantly improved muscle coordination and memory deficit and decreased abnormal aluminium deposition in the brains of exposed animals.
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Neuroprotective effect of Allium cepa L. in aluminium chloride induced neurotoxicity
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Tanveer Singh and Rajesh Kumar Goel. NeuroToxicology, 49 (2015) 1–7.
SUMMARY
Chronic aluminium administration resulted in significant motor incoordination and memory deficits, which were also endorsed biochemically as there was increased oxidative stress as well as elevated aluminium levels in the brain. Supplementation with A. cepa in aluminium exposed animals significantly improved muscle coordination and memory deficits as well as reduced oxidative stress and decreased abnormal aluminium deposition in the brain.
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Vaccines are implicated in the epidemic of childhood food allergies.
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Evidence that food proteins in vaccines cause the development of food allergies and its implications for vaccine policy
CITATION
Arumugham V. Journal of Developing Drugs. 2015;4:137.
SUMMARY
Studies, including by the Institute of Medicine, have demonstrated that food proteins contained in vaccines/injections can induce food allergy. Allergen quantities in vaccines are unregulated. C-section births bias a newborn’s immune system toward IgE synthesis due to the development of a suboptimal gut microbiome. Vaccines contain adjuvants such as aluminum compounds and pertussis toxin that also bias toward IgE synthesis. Over several decades, C-section birth rates have gone up 50%, and the vaccine schedule has increased the number of vaccine shots, with up to five vaccines administered simultaneously. “Given these conditions, the predictable and observed outcome is a food allergy epidemic.”
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Blood levels of mercury and lead are much higher in autistic children as compared to normal controls.
TITLE
Autism: A form of lead and mercury toxicity
CITATION
Yassa HA. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology. 2014;38:1016-1024.
SUMMARY
The aim of this study was to find out the relation between exposure to lead and/or mercury as heavy metals and autistic symptoms and assess use of chelating agents for dealing with heavy metals and improving autistic symptoms. The results showed significantly higher levels of mercury and lead among children with autism compared to children without autism, and a significant decline in the blood levels of lead and mercury with the use of DMSA as a chelating agent. In addition, there was a decline in autistic symptoms with the decrease in the lead and mercury levels in blood.
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Neurodevelopmental disorders are much more common in children who received mercury-containing vaccines.
TITLE
A dose-response relationship between organic mercury exposure from thimerosal-containing vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders
CITATION
Geier DA, Hooker BS, Kern JK, King PG, Sykes LK, Geier MR. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2014;11:9156-9170.
SUMMARY
On a per microgram of organic-mercury (Hg) basis, pervasive developmental disorder, specific developmental disorder, tic disorder and hyperkinetic syndrome of childhood cases were significantly more likely than controls to receive increased organic-Hg exposure. This study provides new epidemiological evidence supporting a significant relationship between increasing organic-Hg exposure from vaccines and the subsequent risk of a neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosis.
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Background data (not reported in print) suggest a strong link between thimerosal exposure and autism.
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Methodological issues and evidence of malfeasance in research purporting to show thimerosal in vaccines is safe
CITATION
Hooker B, Kern J, Geier D, Haley B, Sykes L, King P, Geier M. BioMed Research International. 2014, Article ID 247218.
SUMMARY
This review article shows methodological flaws in six separate CDC studies claiming that thimerosal does not cause autism. In three specific instances (Madsen et al. 2003, Verstraeten et al. 2003 and Price et al. 2010), evidence of malfeasance on the part of CDC scientists is shown. Background data (not reported in print) from these three publications suggest a strong link between thimerosal exposure and autism.
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Chinese scientists find mice injected with thimerosal (vaccine mercury) have behavioral impairments similar to autism.
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Transcriptomic analyses of neurotoxic effects in mouse brain after intermittent neonatal administration of thimerosal
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Li X, Qu F, Xie W, et al. Toxicological Sciences. 2014;139:452–465.
SUMMARY
“Thimerosal-treated mice exhibited neural development delay, social interaction deficiency, and inclination of depression. Apparent neuropathological changes were also observed in adult mice neonatally treated with thimerosal. High-throughput RNA sequencing of autistic-behaved mice brains revealed the alternation of a number of canonical pathways involving neuronal development, neuronal synaptic function, and the dysregulation of endocrine system.”
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Newborns have been overexposed to aluminum.
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Aluminum exposure and toxicity in neonates: a practical guide to halt aluminum overload in the prenatal and perinatal periods.
CITATION
Fanni D, et al. World Journal of Pediatrics, 2014 May; 10(2):101-7.
SUMMARY
During the last years, human newborns have been overexposed to biologically reactive aluminum, with possible relevant consequences on their future health and on their susceptibility to a variety of diseases. Children, newborns and particularly preterm neonates are at an increased risk of aluminum toxicity because of their relative immaturity. Based on recent original publications and classical data of the literatures, we reviewed the aluminum content in mother’s food during the intrauterine life as well as in breast milk and infant formula during lactation. We also determined the possible role of aluminum parenteral nutrition solutions, in adjuvants of vaccines and in pharmaceutical products.
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UC-Boulder professor says the autism epidemic is real and therefore must be the product of an environmental factor.
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A comparison of temporal trends in United States autism prevalence to trends in suspected environmental factors
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Nevison CD. Environmental Health. 2014;13:73.
SUMMARY
“Diagnosed autism prevalence has risen dramatically in the U.S over the last several decades and continued to trend upward as of birth year 2005. The increase is mainly real and has occurred mostly since the late 1980s. In contrast, children’s exposure to most of the top ten toxic compounds has remained flat or decreased over this same time frame. Environmental factors with increasing temporal trends can help suggest hypotheses for drivers of autism that merit further investigation.”
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Israeli and Italian researchers demonstrate that exposure to aluminum in vaccines can lead to autoimmune and brain dysfunction.
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Autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) 2013: Unveiling the pathogenic, clinical and diagnostic aspects
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Perricone C, Colafrancesco S, Mazor RD, Soriano A, Agmon-Levin N, Shoenfeld Y. Journal of Autoimmunity. 2013;47:1-16.
SUMMARY
Environmental factors play a critical role in the induction of autoimmunity, with an interplay between genetic susceptibility and environment. Several neurologic demyelinating diseases have been reported following vaccination, notably Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) (an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system). A number of the most common vaccines appear to have some involvement with autoimmunity.
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Researchers found higher accumulations of aluminum in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Selective accumulation of aluminum in cerebral arteries in Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
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Bhattacharjee S, Zhao Y, Hill JM, … Lukiw WJ. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. 2013;126:35–37.
SUMMARY
To improve understanding of a pathological aluminum entry system into the brain, this study examined the aluminum content of eight arteries that supply blood to the hippocampus, including the aorta and several cerebral arteries. In contrast to age-matched controls, AD patients exhibited a gradient of increasing aluminum concentration from the aorta to the posterior cerebral artery that supplies blood to the hippocampus.
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Canadian researchers: aluminum in vaccines can cause both autoimmunity and neurological damage.
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Aluminum in the central nervous system (CNS): toxicity in humans and animals, vaccine adjuvants, and autoimmunity
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Shaw C, Tomljenovic L. Immunologic Research. 2013;56:304–316.
SUMMARY
“In young children, a highly significant correlation exists between the number of pediatric aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines administered and the rate of autism spectrum disorders. Many of the features of aluminum-induced neurotoxicity may arise, in part, from autoimmune reactions, as part of the ASIA syndrome. Aluminum is added to vaccines to help the vaccine work more effectively, but unlike dietary aluminum which will usually clear rapidly from the body, aluminum used in vaccines and injected is designed to provide a long-lasting cellular exposure. Thus, the problem with vaccine-derived aluminum is really twofold: It drives the immune response even in the absence of a viral or bacterial threat and it can make its way into the central nervous system. It is not really a matter of much debate that aluminum in various forms can be neurotoxic.”
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Research has determined there is a subgroup of the population that has hypersensitivity to the toxicity of thimerosal yet thimerosal containing vaccines are administered to all without consideration to this important fact. We can ban peanuts from schools because a subpopulation is allergic to them, so why is thimerosal still contained in our vaccines?
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B-lymphocytes from a population of children with autism spectrum disorder and their unaffected siblings exhibit hypersensitivity to thimerosal.
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SUMMARY
Two medications (valproate and thalidomide) have been definitively shown to be causative with regards to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both of these medications share a common trait of inhibiting cell proliferation. Thus, these researchers set out to determine if thimerosal can inhibit cell proliferation using doses of thimerosal which reflect the concentrations that infants are exposed to via vaccinations. The design of this experiment was chosen to be able to distinguish between shared or different in utero environments among families with an ASD member. To accomplish this goal, B-cells were collected from, ASD individuals, their unaffected fraternal twins representing a shared in utero environment, and their unaffected nontwin siblings. In the same manner, B-cells were collected from control families with no history of ASD which were matched for age/sex/ethnicity and compared to ASD families. It was determined that there is a hypersensitivity to thimerosal among a subpopulation of ASD families. The target of thimerosal toxicity is the mitochondria and cell proliferation was inhibited at a dose that was lower than that required to cause cell death. Among the hypersensitive population, the dose of thimerosal that could inhibit cell proliferation was found to be only 40% of that needed to inhibit proliferation in the control group. Whether a twin or sibling was hypersensitive was dependent on having another family member with hypersensitivity. This finding implies there is a genetic component to thimerosal hypersensitivity. Among the ASD families with hypersensitivity oxidative stress was determined to be the contributing factor. Poor antioxidant status, high lactate levels, and elevated markers of oxidative stress are a common finding among individuals with ASD. In 2008 the case of Hannah Poling was awarded compensation under the United States National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. It was claimed that her vaccines induced a mitochondrial encephalopathy that resulted in autism. Since the mitochondria is the most significant target of thimerosal toxicity, it is particularly poignant to know that a lowering of antioxidant status by any other additional conditions such as infections or co-exposure to other toxins would further sensitize mitochondria to the damaging effects of thimerosal. These researchers state that their work, “…supports a multi-insult model of ASD causation where many individuals have the genetic background that makes them vulnerable to a particular type of insult at a particular time in their brain development…”. Just like valproate and thalidomide which are the only 2 accepted causative agents for ASD, this research has demonstrated that thimerosal is also capable of inhibiting cell proliferation.
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An animal model of early life exposure to thimerosal finds it adversely impacts learning and memory and may be associated with the development of autism in susceptible individuals.
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Effect of thimerosal on the neurodevelopment of premature rats.
CITATION
SUMMARY
Thimerosal is a preservative used in vaccines and contains approximately 49% mercury. This animal model study was undertaken to investigate the neurodevelopmental effect of exposure to thimerosal in premature rats. Four groups of premature rats received four different doses of thimerosal (32.8, 65.6, 98.4 or 131.2 μg/kg) injected into the gluteus maximus on postnatal day 1. A fifth group served as a control and received a saline injection. Tests were performed 44-48 days post injection to determine spatial learning and memory function. On day 49 the animals were euthanized and prepared for immunohistochemical staining to determine the expression of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4), serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) and apoptosis (programmed cell death) in the prefrontal cortex. The DRD4 receptor is associated with memory function while the 5-HT2AR receptor correlates with episodic memory. Previous rat studies have demonstrated that early life exposure to thimerosal alters the dopamine and serotonin systems. Similarly, this study found a significant decrease in the expression of DRD4, 5-HT2AR and learning at the highest dose of thimerosal. The decrease in receptor expression correlated with increased levels of apoptosis. In all but the lowest exposure group, memory function was significantly decreased when compare to the control group. The authors close by saying, “In conclusion, our results are consistent with previous studies in mice, rats, rhesus macaques, and humans, demonstrate that exposure to mercury from thimerosal- containing vaccines in susceptible populations, such as premature infants, may be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.”
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British scientists sounds the alarm on aluminum toxicity and question lack of research on aluminum used in vaccines.
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Human exposure to aluminium
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Christopher Exley. Environmental Science Processes & Impacts, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013, 15, 1807.
SUMMARY
“The immunopotency of aluminium has been known for at least 100 years and still today forms the basis for the use of aluminium salts as adjuvants in vaccinations and allergy therapies. What is then surprising is the uncertainty regarding their mechanism of action and burgeoning evidence of their toxicity in potentially susceptible individuals.”
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Infants receiving mercury-containing vaccines had much higher rates of autism than infants receiving vaccines without mercury.
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A two-phase study evaluating the relationship between Thimerosal-containing vaccine administration and the risk for an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in the United States
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Geier DA, Hooker BS, Kern JK, King PG, Sykes LK, Geier MR. Translational Neurodegeneration. 2013;2:25.
SUMMARY
“The present study provides new epidemiological evidence supporting an association between increasing organic-Hg [mercury] exposure from Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and the subsequent risk of ASD [autism] diagnosis.”
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There is a connection between infant and prenatal thimerosal exposure and neurological disorders.
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Low-dose mercury exposure in early life: Relevance of thimerosal to fetuses, newborns and infants
CITATION
Dórea JG. Current Medicinal Chemistry. 2013;20:4060-4069.
SUMMARY
This review article highlights the scientifically affirmed connection between infant and prenatal thimerosal exposure and neurological disorders, including tic disorder, which has been shown to be much more prevalent in children with autism. The author also delineates the use of thimerosal in vaccines in developing countries at a greater exposure level than developed countries such as the U.S.
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Polish scientists propose new vaccine schedule, express concern at high rate of vaccine adverse events.
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Neurologic adverse events following vaccination
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Sienkiewicz D, Kulak W, Okurowska-Zawada B, Paszko-Patej G. Progress in Health Sciences. 2012;2.
SUMMARY
“[I]t is not reasonable to assume that manipulation of the immune system through an increasing number of vaccinations during critical periods of brain development will not result in adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. European countries have different models of vaccination that have been modified in recent decades. In Scandinavian countries, which have the lowest infant mortality, vaccinations are voluntary and infants receive their first vaccination at 3 months of age. In the first year of life, they receive 9 recommended vaccinations, and at 18 months – MMR. The acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) is used, as well as IPV. BCG and Hepatitis B vaccines are administered to children from high risk groups. Similar vaccination schedules exist in other European countries, where the vaccination of neonates was abandoned and a ban on the use of thimerosal in vaccines was introduced. Note also that Scandinavian countries have the lowest rates of autism compared to other developed countries in which children are vaccinated much earlier and with greater number of vaccines.”
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Canadian researchers review literature on autoimmunity and neurological risks from vaccine adjuvant aluminum, express doubts regarding safety testing.
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Mechanisms of aluminum adjuvant toxicity and autoimmunity in pediatric populations
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L Tomljenovic, CA Shaw. Lupus. 2012;21:223–230.
SUMMARY
“Immune challenges during early development, including those vaccine-induced, can lead to permanent detrimental alterations of the brain and immune function. Experimental evidence also shows that simultaneous administration of as little as two to three immune adjuvants can overcome genetic resistance to autoimmunity. In spite of the widespread agreement that vaccines are largely safe and serious adverse complications are extremely rare, a close scrutiny of the scientific literature does not support this view. For example, to date, the clinical trials that could adequately address vaccine safety issues have not been conducted (i.e., comparing health outcomes in vaccinated versus non-vaccinated children). Infants and young children should not be viewed as ‘small adults.’ Their unique physiology makes them much more vulnerable to noxious environmental insults in comparison with the adult population. In spite of this, children are routinely exposed to much higher levels of Al vaccine adjuvants than adults, even though adequate safety data on these compounds are lacking. That Al vaccine adjuvants can induce significant autoimmune conditions in humans can hardly be disputed, although still debatable is how common such side effects are. However, the existing data (or lack thereof) raise questions on whether the current vaccines aimed at pediatric populations can be accepted as having adequate safety profiles. Because infants and children represent those who may be most at risk for complications following vaccination, a more rigorous evaluation of potential vaccine-related adverse health impacts in pediatric populations than what has been provided to date is urgently needed.”