Fw: Illegal vaccine link to Gulf war syndrome

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From: " ilena rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 1:53 AM

Subject: Illegal vaccine link to Gulf war syndrome

http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,529534,00.html

Illegal vaccine link to Gulf war syndrome

Brown, environment correspondent

Monday July 30, 2001

The Guardian

The illness known as Gulf war syndrome looks likely to have been caused by

an illegal vaccine " booster " given by the Ministry of Defence to protect

soldiers against biological weapons, according to the results of a new

series of tests.

Scientists in the United States found that symptoms of the illness were

the same for service personnel who received the injections whether or not

they served in the Gulf.

The common factor for the 275,000 British and US veterans who are ill

appears to be a substance called squalene, allegedly used in injections to

add to their potency. Such an action would have been illegal. Squalene is

not licensed for use on either side of the Atlantic because of potential

side effects.

Pam Asa and her team at the Tulane medical school in Louisiana tested more

than 300 former US military personnel who were given vaccinations to go to

the Gulf: 95% tested positive for squalene antibodies.

In addition veterans from both sides of the Atlantic were tested,

including 20 who were given preparatory injections but who did not go to

the war. All 20 tested positive to squalene antibodies.

The first non-deployed British sufferer to be tested, Anwen Humphreys, was

also found to have antibodies.

Dr Asa said in her view the fact that even non-deployed veterans were

testing positive for squalene provided conclusive evidence that

vaccinations were a " major cause " of the condition. It ruled out the

alternative environmental theories floated as causes of Gulf war syndrome.

" I believe that those people who were given vaccinations in the US and the

UK were given something they should not have been, probably in the anthrax

vaccine. [The results] need a thorough examination by the US and UK

governments. "

Squalene is classed as an ad juvant - a chemical which is added to a

vaccine to make it more combative. It is a naturally occurring substance

in the human body but injecting it is illegal, and past scientific

research in rats and mice has found that it causes auto-immune disease.

Consequently, squalene in the form of a vaccine is unlicensed for human or

veterinary use.

The evidence could be devastating for the Ministry of Defence which is

being sued for damages by 1,900 British veterans. If they show they were

injected with an illegal substance, the damages could be astronomical. The

ministry has refused toreveal what was in the injections.

Ms Humphreys, 39, from Dolgellau, north Wales, who suffers typical

symptoms of the syndrome - severe headaches, nausea, muscular pain, joint

swelling, short term memory loss and depression - said: " I believe the MoD

has used us like guinea pigs to see how effective squalene is.

" There are no words to describe what they have done. It's just medically,

morally and ethically wrong. "

She says she feels " cheated " by the MoD. " I was always one of these people

who said that there is no way they would experiment with our

vaccinations. "

Ms Humphreys' story is being told tonight on the Welsh-language current

affairs programme, Y Byd Ar Bedwar, (The World On Four), on S4C. The US

defence department has strongly denied Dr Asa's claims.

Moonie, a junior minister responsible for veterans, said: " To the

best of my knowledge no squalene was given to any member of the British

forces at the time of the Gulf war. "

The Ministry of Defence has so far refused to disclose what was in the

injections and defence scientists are carrying out experiments on animals

to see what effects the Gulf war injections could have. The results will

not be known until 2003.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001