September 24, 2002 – The emergence of a new disease, macrophagic myofasciitis (MFM), calls into question the safety of vaccines containing aluminum hydroxide. The latter is an adjuvant, that is, it is added to the vaccine strain in order to trigger a higher immune response.
This disease, first reported in 1998 by a team of French myopathy specialists, is the cause of fever, muscle and joint pain, persistent fatigue and other very debilitating symptoms. It is characterized by the appearance of muscle lesions and the presence of macrophages (cells responsible for eliminating substances foreign to the body). For the moment, it has only been observed in France where already between 160 and 200 people are affected.
Several researchers believe that the presence of aluminum hydroxide in vaccines is the cause of MFM.1.2 Aluminum is known for its allergenic effects and some specialists believe that it affects the nervous system, even suspecting it to be one of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Faced with the risks associated with aluminum, researchers at the Institut Pasteur have already developed a calcium phosphate-based vaccine adjuvant, but it has never been marketed.3
The link between the presence of aluminum hydroxide in vaccines and the onset of the disease remains very controversial. Indeed, this adjuvant is used elsewhere than in France. “In Quebec, aluminum-based admixtures are used [le phosphate d’aluminium et le sulfate d’aluminium, selon le type de vaccins] », Explains Yves Robert, medical consultant and responsible for the vaccine safety file at the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services. However, no case of this disease has been observed here, nor elsewhere in the world, except in France. Researchers suggest that immunological predispositions could be the cause of the onset of this disease in some people and not in others. The fact that the injection is intramuscular rather than subcutaneous is also one of the hypotheses explored. According to Mr. Robert, the link between aluminum and MFM suffers from a major bias: “France is the only country where biopsies are done on the deltoid muscle, a muscle which is also the site of injection of vaccines. . “
The position of the World Health Organization (WHO) on this hypothesis is also very cautious. The body only recognizes the existence of a link between these lesions and aluminum and calls for larger studies to prove the link between the vaccine and the symptoms of patients. In the meantime, the WHO is not making any changes to the recommendations for vaccinations. The Immunization Safety Working Group ofInstitute of Medicine of the American National Academy of Sciences will soon discuss the merits of this hypothesis. To be continued.
Stéphane Gagné – PasseportSanté.net
1. Brenner A. Macrophagic myofasciitis: a summary of Dr. Gherardi’s presentations, Vaccinated 2002 May 31; 20 Suppl 3: S5-6.
2. Gherardi RK, Coquet M, Cherin P, Belec L, Moretto P, Dreyfus PA, Pellissier JF, Chariot P, Authier FJ. Macrophagic myofasciitis lesions assess long-term persistence of vaccine-derived aluminum hydroxide in muscle. Brain. 2001 Sep; 124 (Pt 9): 1821-31.
3. Pluchet, Régis. Aluminum in the dock, Alternative Health The impatient, February 2001. http://www.medecines-douces.com/impatient/275fev01/alu.htm.