A new Canadian study of the mechanisms of aluminum adjuvant toxicity in pediatric patients confirms that immune challenges during early development, including those vaccine-induced, can lead to permanent detrimental alterations of the brain and immune system function. Lucija Tomljenovic, PhD and Christopher A. Shaw, PhD of the University of British Columbia’s evidence-based study was recently published in Lupus, the only fully peer reviewed international journal devoted exclusively to lupus (and related disease) research.

Tomljenovic L, Shaw CA. Mechanisms of aluminum adjuvant toxicity in pediatric populations.

Lupus. 2011;21(2):223-230

Summary

Immune challenges during early development, including those vaccine-induced, can lead to permanent detrimental alterations of the brain and immune system function. Experimental evidence also shows that simultaneous administration of as little as two to three immune adjuvants can overcome genetic resistance to autoimmunity. In some developed countries, by the time children are 4 to 6 years old, they will have received a total of 126 antigenic compounds along with high amounts of aluminum (Al) adjuvants through routine vaccinations. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, safety assessments for vaccines have often not included appropriate toxicity studies because vaccines have not been viewed as inherently toxic. Taken together, these observations raise plausible concerns about the overall safety of current childhood vaccination programs.

When assessing adjuvant toxicity in children, several key points ought to be considered:

1) During prenatal and early postnatal development the brain is extremely vulnerable to neurotoxic insults;

2) Aluminum is a neurotoxin and a strong immune stimulant. Hence, aluminum has all the necessary biochemical properties to induce neuro-immune diseases. Autism is one such disease. Namely, autism is characterized by dysfunctional immunity and abnormalities in brain function;

3) In adult humans aluminum vaccine adjuvants have been linked to a variety of serious autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, yet children are regularly exposed to much higher amounts of aluminium from vaccines than adults;

4) It is often incorrectly assumed that peripheral immune challenges (analogous to vaccinations) do not affect brain function. However, it is now clearly established that there is a cross-talk between the nervous and the immune system. It is also demonstrated that this cross-talk plays a crucial role in both immunoregulation as well as brain function. In turn, perturbations of the neuro-immune regulatory system have been demonstrated in many autoimmune diseases and are thought to be driven by a hyperactive immune response;

5) 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;

In summary, research evidence shows that increasing concerns about current vaccination practices may indeed be warranted. Because children may be most at risk of vaccine-induced complications, a rigorous evaluation of the vaccine-related adverse health impacts in the pediatric population is urgently needed.

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