1) Macrophagic Myofasciitis (MMF), also referred to as Macrophagic Myofasciitis Syndrome (MMS), is a rare muscle disease characterized by microscopic lesions found in muscle tissue. It causes fatigue, chronic inflammation and joint pain.
2) The CDC has a complete list of vaccine ingredients on their website, which can be found HERE.
3) From FDA.gov: "Aluminum is incorporated into some vaccines as an adjuvant. The purpose of formulating vaccines with adjuvants is to increase the immune response to the antigen (the component of the vaccine that stimulates the immune system to make antibodies). When FDA evaluates a vaccine for safety and effectiveness, an adjuvant such as aluminum, is considered to be a part of the vaccine, rather than a component that is licensed separately."
4) Aluminum is present in U.S. childhood vaccines that prevent hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTaP, Tdap), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), human papillomavirus (HPV) and pneumococcus infection.
5) The FDA study on aluminum in vaccines found that the maximum amount of aluminum an infant could be exposed to over the first year of life would be 4.225 milligrams (mg). Federal Regulations for biological products (including vaccines) limit the amount of aluminum in the recommended individual dose of biological products, to not more than 0.85-1.25 mg.
6) Amount of aluminum in vaccines include:
7) Recently, a new syndrome was introduced by Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld, called Autoimmune/inflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA). The activation of the immune system by adjuvants, a desirable effect, could trigger manifestations of autoimmunity or autoimmune disease that includes postvaccination phenomena, macrophagic myofasciitis, Gulf War syndrome and siliconosis. This syndrome is characterized by nonspecific and specific manifestations of autoimmune disease. 8) The French and British use the pronunciation "aluminium." We've elected to use the American-ized version "aluminum."
1) In 1993, doctors in Paris discovered that a group of patients had developed a new disease called Macrophagic Myofascitis, or MMF, which occurs when the aluminum hydroxide adjuvant from a vaccine remains embedded in the muscle tissue and causes an immune reaction.
2) Although generally well tolerated, aluminum may occasionally cause disabling health problems in presumably susceptible individuals. A small proportion of vaccinated people present with delayed onset of diffuse myalgia, chronic fatigue and cognitive dysfunction, and exhibit very long-term persistence of aluminum-loaded macrophages at site of previous intra-muscular (I.M.) immunization, forming a granulomatous lesion called Macrophagic Myofasciitis (MMF). Clinical symptoms associated with MMF are paradigmatic of the recently delineated "autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants" (ASIA) by Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld.
3) Dr. Gherardi discusses how the macrophage system is supposed to work: "We analyzed the process whereby a macrophage ingests a particle. The macrophage behaves the same way, whether it is eating an infectious particle, a bacteria, or a particle of metal the size of a bacteria. It surrounds the intruder, bringing it inside its cell membrane. Then it develops a strategy for eliminating this toxic particle it has eaten. The technical name for the system is "autophagic xenophagy." It consists of isolating the toxin inside a double-walled sac. A sac with two membranes. That way, the alien invader is isolated. Next, the macrophage fuses with an organic killer, the lysosome. The lysosome fuses with the sac, or vacuole, and destroys everything inside. The lysosome contains highly destructive enzymes. They only operate at acidic pH, so it has an acidic pH. The enzymes kill living organisms like bacteria. They can also kill proteins or old mitochondria - any cellular waste material. But the pH, or acidity, is capable of corroding or dissolving mineral substances. To dissolve a mineral substance, you immerse it in an acidic environment, and it melts: it goes from being a solid to being a liquid. That's what usually happens to mineral particles. That's why we figured the flaw might be in the autophagy-xenophagy system."
4) Dr. Gherardi discusses this flaw and how those with MMF have a different genetic make-up that prohibits them from secreting the aluminum: "We know there are 34 genes which code for this highly complex machinery. So we looked for 109 variants; that is, genetic variations on each of these genes. They are "normal." That means the mutations do not cause disease in and of themselves. But they do predispose the system to dysfunctions. Of the 109 variants we checked out, we found 7 variants, located on six different genes, which are significantly found more frequently in patients with MMF, as compared to the general public. There are international consensus guidelines indicating normal ranges. It is interesting to note that these genetic mutations are cumulative. That is, our MMF patients present more than one variation. They have three, four, or five, and their effects probably combine. As a result, in a normal situation, when the macrophage just performs standard duties, it works fine. If the job makes extra demands on the macrophage, most people overcome the difficulty, with a struggle. But a small minority will be totally unable to secrete the enzyme, and the toxin will remain. If 10, 20, or 25 vaccines are administered, regardless of genes, everyone will be overcome by the toxic burden. The cause of the system breakdown will be the toxicity itself."
5) Once doctors at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research realized they had a group of patients with the same mysterious symptoms, they began intensely studying them to try to figure out the cause of the disease. All the patients had muscle lesions that, after extensive testing, were found to contain aluminum in them. Dr. Romain Gherardi, who was leading the efforts, searched all the patients records to try and find the source of the exposure. He found a reference to aluminum as a vaccine adjuvant and then tracked down all the past vaccination records for each patient, only to find that 100% of the patients had been vaccinated relatively recently.
6) Macrophagic Myofasciitis (MMF) is now clearly identified as induced by aluminum salts in vaccines. Studying MMF has now enabled substantial scientific progress towards proper diagnosis of the disease. Recently, Dr. Romain Gherardi wrote a book about his experiences with aluminum, vaccines and MMF called Toxic Story - Two or three embarrassing truths about vaccines and their adjuvants.
7) Aluminum salts are identified as neurotoxic by the highest French health authorities. Many diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Crown's, Sarcoidosis, development of allergies, cases of chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, autism and many more could be caused by aluminum according to Professor Christopher Exley (GB), renowned international specialist in aluminum toxicity and a professor in inorganic chemistry at Birchall Centre at Keele University, Straffordshire, UK.
8) Professor Jérôme Authier is a neurologist and director of the INSERM's U955 E10 unit at Paris-Est University. He coordinates the Centre of Reference for Neuromuscular Diseases at H. Mondor Hospital, Créteil, France. He asserts: Aluminum lasts many months in the injection site of the vaccine. Simultaneously, it migrates to the body and enters organs such as the spleen, liver, brain. This migration occurs more or less rapidly according to 3 criteria:
9) The discovery of MMF by the INSERM team in France is now included in Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld's list of Autoimmune/inflammatory syndromes induced by adjuvants, also known as ASIA. Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld founded the Centre for Autoimmune Diseases at Israel's greatest hospital and is considered the "Godfather of Autoimmunology." He has written over 25 books about autoimmunity, many of them considered to be cornerstones of clinical practice on the subject.
10) Individual cases of MMF have been reported in many countries. Portuguese researchers are now following a cohort of individuals with Macrophagic Myofasciitis.
11) Two professors from the University of British Columbia, Dr. Christopher Shaw, a Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and holds cross appointments with the Department of Experimental Medicine and the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, and Lucija Tomljenovic, from the Neural Dynamics Research Group at the University of British Columbia, have published a study called, "Aluminum vaccine adjuvants: are they safe?" In the study they assert, "Electron microscopy and microanalytical analysis showed that the appearance of MMF lesions was due to long-term persistence of aluminum adjuvants at the site of injections and concomitant ongoing local immune reactions [8, 83]. Aluminum was shown to persist at the site of injection from several months up to 8 years following vaccination [83, 85]. MMF lesions were subsequently also reproduced in rats by injection of aluminum adjuvants [86]."
In their study, which was published in the journal Current Medicinal Chemistry, Shaw and Tomljenovic contend that medical science's understanding of the metallic element's mechanisms of action in the body remains poor. They argue that experimental research shows that aluminum adjuvants have the potential to induce serious autoimmune disorders, long-term brain inflammation, and associated neurological complications.
12) The French court ruled that the Council of State (the highest French administrative jurisdiction) has acknowledged the link between Macrophagic Myofascite and aluminum in vaccines in court 8 times (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015).
13) Many lives have been greatly affected because of the presence of aluminum in vaccines, and tens of thousands of people are still waiting for a diagnosis. People who are diagnosed with MMF are often socially excluded due to the debilitating effects of the disease. 78% of them can no longer work. The exhaustion often prevents them from being able to have a regular job or keep up with social or family obligations.
14) The safety of aluminum has been debated since 1891. Two German scientists claimed that aluminum was dangerous. They said it could start to break down, and dissolve into food. To settle court cases, manufacturers hired scientists on both sides to do research. Some tried to show aluminum was harmless, others, that it was toxic. A commission was appointed by Roosevelt in 1908 to consider the safety of aluminum further. High economic and scientific stakes were attached to aluminum. Certain researchers published incriminating evidence and alleged that aluminum was harmful. Ernest Ellsworth Smith was recognized as a scientist. He published a book in 1928, to weigh all the pros and cons of aluminum. The book was extremely biased and omitted any findings that aluminum was harmful. The anti-aluminum side, Smith's opponents, had much less funding, and couldn't afford to publish a book like this one. Both sides had scientists doing serious, legitimate work but the pro-aluminum group had sponsorship and was able to quash all legitimate concerns from the other side.
15) The study cited as the main reference on how the body absorbs the aluminum adjuvant in a vaccine was done in 1997. It was carried out by an American researcher named Flarend. His co-author is Stanley Hem, the pope of adjuvants. Their study comprised of injecting radioactive aluminum into two rabbits. They then monitored the rate at which the rabbits could eliminate the radioactive aluminum, by measuring the levels of aluminum in the rabbits' urine. Elimination, 28 days post-injection was 6%. In other words, 94% of the aluminum remained in the animal's body. The animals were only studied for 28 days, no long-term studies were ever done. Despite this study, scientists still claim that it only takes a few weeks to eliminate aluminum injected into humans.
16) Aluminum hydroxide became available in 1927. The exact same compound is still used today in vaccines, vaccinology continues to use aluminum in the same form as it was originally used in 1927 with no new scientific developments.
A portion of these supplemental facts were provided by E3M, the French Association, Entraide Aux Malades de la Myofasciite Macrophages (Macrophage Myofasciitis Patients).