Gulf War syndrome linked to anthrax vaccine

By Pam Harrison

NEW ORLEANS – Symptoms of the elusive Gulf War Syndrome have now been linked to antibodies that target squalene, an experimental adjuvant used in some batches of anthrax vaccine received by 2.4 million U.S. military personnel as protection against the threat of bioterrorism.
   Dr. Pamela Asa and colleagues from the Tulane University medical school here examined the association between symptoms of the syndrome and the anthrax vaccine used during the Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP) initiated by the U.S. government in 1997. Researchers initially tested serum samples from six anthrax vaccine recipients and all six tested positive for anti-squalene antibodies. They then tested sera from 25 vaccine recipients and 19 controls who had not received the vaccine.
   Thirty-two per cent tested positive for anti-squalene antibodies compared with 16% of controls. However, when researchers divided recipients into groups according to the lot of vaccine received, they found four lots of vaccine had been given to 17 of the 25, and in this group, eight subjects or 47% tested positive for anti-squalene antibodies.
   None of the recipients who had received the vaccine from any other lot used during the AVIP campaign tested positive, a significant difference between the two groups despite the small number of samples tested, researchers note. Results of the study were reported in Experimental and Molecular Pathology.
   "Our testing for anti-squalene antibodies in persons receiving anthrax immunization as part of AVIP identified many antibody-positive individuals," researchers write. This is in contrast to the absence of anti-squalene antibodies observed in sera collected prior to immunization, they add. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration dismissed the amount of squalene found in certain lots of the anthrax vaccine as being too low to have an immunological effect.
   But the immune system is "exquisitely sensitive to small quantities of antigen" and no lower safety limits have been set for squalene when used as an adjuvant in a vaccine.
   Symptoms of the syndrome include joint and muscle pain, dizziness, chronic headaches, low-grade fevers and memory loss.