18 November 2008
Journal: Med Hypotheses. 2008 Nov 10. [Epub ahead of print]
Authors: Exley C, Swarbrick L, Gherardi RK, Authier FJ.
Affiliation: Birchall Centre for Inorganic Chemistry and Materials
Science, Lennard-Jones Laboratories, Keele University, Staffordshire
ST5 5BG, UK.
NLM Citation: PMID: 19004564
Macrophagic myofasciitis and chronic fatigue syndrome are severely
disabling conditions which may be caused by adverse reactions to
aluminium-containing adjuvants in vaccines. While a little is known
of disease aetiology both conditions are characterised by an aberrant
immune response, have a number of prominent symptoms in common and
are coincident in many individuals.
Herein, we have described a case of vaccine-associated chronic
fatigue syndrome and macrophagic myofasciitis in an individual
demonstrating aluminium overload. This is the first report linking
the latter with either of these two conditions and the possibility is
considered that the coincident aluminium overload contributed
significantly to the severity of these conditions in this individual.
This case has highlighted potential dangers associated with
aluminium-containing adjuvants and we have elucidated a possible
mechanism whereby vaccination involving aluminium-containing
adjuvants could trigger the cascade of immunological events which are
associated with autoimmune conditions including chronic fatigue
syndrome and macrophagic myofasciitis.