Aluminum, Neuron Death and Anthrax Vaccine

Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice.
Neuromolecular Medicine, February 2007, Volume 9, Issue 1

Petrik MS, Wong MC, Tabata RC, Garry RF, Shaw CA. Department of Ophthalmology and Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.


"Whereas many environmental factors have been linked to GWI, the role of the anthrax vaccine has come under increasing scrutiny. Among the vaccine's potentially toxic components are the adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and squalene..... Aluminum-treated groups also showed significant motor neuron loss (35%) and increased numbers of astrocytes (350%) in the lumbar spinal cord....The findings suggest a possible role for the aluminum adjuvant in some neurological features associated with GWI and possibly an additional role for the combination of adjuvants." - Petrik, Wong, Tabata, Garry & Shaw, Neuromolecular Medicine

Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:

Aluminum is a metal which is neurotoxic when it accesses the nervous system and it also has an affinity for the bones, lung and liver. It can make the blood brain barrier more permeable and cross it, leading to neuron death and chronic inflammation of the brain.

Aluminum is used as an adjuvant in many vaccines, including the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) targeting pre-adolescent girls. Childhood vaccines contain from 170 mcg to 625 mcg of aluminum per dose. Children receiving multiple vaccines on one day (pneumococcal, DTaP, hepatitis B, hepatitis A) could receive as much as 1250 mcg of aluminum.

Symptoms of aluminum poisoning include personality changes, progressive speech disorder, stuttering, tremors, seizures, abnormal EEG, psychosis and dementia. Elevated levels of aluminum have been found in the brains of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, who have symptoms including memory lapses, mood disturbances, agitation, aggression, disturbed sleep, confusion and depression.

There have never been any long term human studies evaluating the pathological changes in brain and immune function resulting from repeatedly injecting aluminum into children and adults.

Pentagon Won't Stop Forcing Anthrax Vaccine

"But as recently as this spring, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said questions remain about the vaccine. "The long term safety of the licensed vaccine has not been studied," the agency said in a May 9 report. ". . . Also, there is some evidence that the current anthrax vaccine may have diminished efficacy against certain virulent strains of anthrax." Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, said her nonprofit advocacy group is adding more information to its Web site about the research and development of biological defense vaccines. "The DOD has a moral duty to fully disclose anthrax vaccine risks, as well as benefits, to soldiers and allow them to make an informed, voluntary decision," she said in a statement" - Christopher Lee, Washington Post, October 17, 2006 Mandatory Anthrax Shots to Return

"The forthcoming mandatory program is just as senseless as before and the FDA's new determination remains legally and scientifically flawed," said Mark Zaid, one of the attorneys. Winkenwerder, who has not taken the anthrax vaccine, said the FDA's final order settles legal questions and the Pentagon is prepared for a court challenge......Under the voluntary program, only 50 percent of troops offered the shot accepted it.Winkenwerder said those numbers were too low and left U.S. forces unprepared for bioterrorist attacks. He said service members expect a shot to be mandatory if it is important." - Kristin Roberts, Reuters, October 16, 2006, Pentagon to Resume Forced Anthrax Vaccine Program

Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The attorneys, who have represented U.S. soldiers forced to take the experimental anthrax vaccine without their voluntary informed consent, are going to continue to battle the Pentagon's immoral policy in federal court. And the National Vaccine Information Center, which yesterday launched the Military and Biodefense Vaccine Project (www.military-biodefensevaccines.org) to better inform the public about military and biodefense vaccines which can be forced on both military and civilian populations, will continue our 25-year effort to defend the human right to voluntary, informed consent to vaccination or any other medical intervention.

October 16, 2006 - Press Release

VACCINE SAFETY ADVOCATES OPPOSE PENTAGON’S RETURN TO MANDATORY ANTHRAX VACCINATION OF U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL

National Vaccine Information Center Provides Military-Biodefense Vaccine Information

Washington, D.C. –Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs William Winkenwerder, M.D. reportedly will announce today that U.S. soldiers will once again be forced under threat of court martial to be injected with anthrax vaccine without their voluntary, informed consent. The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is warning that one-size- fits-all mandatory vaccination policies are dangerous for those with genetic and other biological risk factors, making them vulnerable to brain and immune system dysfunction following anthrax vaccination. Today, NVIC is launching the Military and Biodefense Vaccine Project (MBVP) with a website (www.military- biodefensevaccines.org) dedicated to providing the public with information on the research, development, regulation, policymaking, legislation and government promotion of military and biodefense vaccines that may be mandated for mass use in both military and civilian populations.

“America’s military servicemembers deserve to be fully informed about the deaths, chronic illness and disabilities that many soldiers have experienced following anthrax vaccination,” said MBVP medical director Meryl Nass, M.D. “The FDA-approved anthrax vaccine package insert acknowledges only six deaths and two dozen autoimmune diseases associated with the vaccine, but the FDA has not directed the manufacturer to update the insert in nearly five years. More than 1200 anthrax vaccine-injured soldiers have been treated at the congressionally mandated Vaccine Healthcare Centers, which DOD has attempted to close. They are suffering with crippling, life-altering illnesses that are being swept under the rug. We know the anthrax vaccine is reactive and we suspect it is especially risky for those with hereditary and other risk factors that DOD refuses to investigate or acknowledge.”

Since the 1991 Gulf War, healthy young soldiers have reported severe deterioration in health following anthrax vaccination, including chronic joint and muscle pain, weakness, gastrointestinal disorders, disabling fatigue, loss of memory and ability to concentrate, severe headaches, respiratory and heart problems, and autoimmune disorders that leave them unable to work or live a normal life. Some U. S. soldiers risked court martial rather than submit to anthrax vaccination, or re-vaccination after reactions occurred.

The Pentagon’s mandatory anthrax vaccine program was halted in October 2004 when Washington, D.C. federal Judge Emmet Sullivan cited the FDA for failing to follow FDA licensing regulations. He issued a permanent injunction directing DOD to stop giving the experimental anthrax vaccine to military personnel without their voluntary, informed consent. In December 2005, the FDA issued a new Final Order declaring the vaccine safe and effective, but failed to provide evidence the vaccine was effective against inhalation (weaponized) anthrax, and failed to address published research studies and 5,000 adverse events reports received by FDA demonstrating that anthrax vaccine is causing serious health problems. The National Vaccine Information Center filed an amicus brief in support of soldiers seeking to stop DOD from forcing anthrax vaccinations without informed consent.

“The National Vaccine Information Center has worked for 25 years to institute informed consent protections in America’s mass vaccination system,” said NVIC co-founder and president Barbara Loe Fisher. “The right to informed consent to medical risk taking, which involves risk of injury or death, is a human right whether an American citizen is a soldier or a civilian. The DOD has a moral duty to fully disclose anthrax vaccine risks, as well as benefits, to soldiers and allow them to make an informed, voluntary vaccination decision. The launch of the Military and Biodefense Vaccine Project, which expands our website information, will provide necessary information for informed vaccine decision making.”

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is a non-profit, educational organization founded in 1982 and dedicated to preventing vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and defending the informed consent ethic. NVIC has warned that vaccine injury liability protection given to pharmaceutical companies, and lack of informed consent provisions in Project BioShield, as well as other state and federal disease control legislation enacted since September 11, 2001, endanger civil liberties. For more information, go to www.nvic.org

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