Nexus - 0802 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Immunological Disease Resulting from Adsorption of Foreign Substances Under certain circumstances, foreign substances such as med- ications may combine with cells to render them antigenic. Subsequent exposure to such a foreign substance results in lytic, agglutinative or other types of cell-destructive activity. Sucha reaction may involve red blood cells (drug-induced anaemias), platelets (drug-induced thrombocytopenic purpura), and leukocy- tosis (drug-induced agranulocytosis). Bacteria or viruses may also alter cell surfaces by coating or by unmasking antigens through enzymatic activity which may render them vulnerable to immunological destruction. Immunological Disease Resulting from Adsorption of include a wide variety of organs and tissues, and are now being Foreign Substances employed as model systems for investigation of autoimmune Under certain circumstances, foreign substances such as med- phenomena. ications may combine with cells to render them antigenic. Both humoral antibody and sensitised cells may function in Subsequent exposure to such a foreign substance results in lytic, autoimmune disease. Auto-antibodies seem to be involved in agglutinative or other types of cell-destructive activity. Sucha reactions with cells which are easily accessible, such as the reaction may involve red blood cells (drug-induced anaemias), formed elements of the blood (in haemolytic anaemia, leucopenia, platelets (drug-induced thrombocytopenic purpura), and leukocy- thrombocytopenia), vascular endothelium, vascular basement tosis (drug-induced agranulocytosis). membrane including the glomerulus (in acute glomerulonephritis) Bacteria or viruses may also alter cell surfaces by coating or by and ascites cells (neoplastic immunity). unmasking antigens through enzymatic activity which may render Production of lesions in the solid vascularised tissues appears to them vulnerable to immunological destruction. depend on delayed hypersensitivity reactions with sensitised lym- phoid cells (such as in allergic encephalomyelitis, thyroiditis, sub- Autoimmune Disease acute and chronic glomerulonephritis, orchitis, adrenalitis and Under certain circumstances, the body may respond immuno- many other diseases). logically to its own components or to intrinsic substances which It is quite obvious now that the same autoimmune mechanisms are related antigenically to the host's own tis- are responsible for the same diseases in sues. The circulating antibody or sensitised human beings and that the extent of such cells which are produced are then active in damage is enormous and keeps increasing, causing cellular injury to the tissues or with more and more vaccines added to the organs of the body which bear the corre- "recommended" schedule. sponding antigen. Indeed, vaccines such as the pertuss Waksman (1962) proposed several mecha- vaccine are actually used to induce autoim- nisms of autoimmunisation, such as: mune diseases in laboratory animals, the 1. Vaccination with organ-specific anti- Lately, innocent best and most publicised example being the gens which are isolated from the lymphatic so-called experimental allergic channels and bloodstream and are not recog- parents and other encephalomyelitis (EAE). When, as expect- nised as self when brought into contact with carers have been ed, these unfortunate animals develop EAE the immunologic process. They are repre- . from the pertussis vaccine, the causal link is sented in the central and peripheral nervous accused of causing never disputed; yet when babies after vacci- systems, lens, uvea, testes, thyroid (thy- the symptoms of nation with the same vaccines develop the roglobulin), kidneys and other organs. 2. Vaccination against constituents of tissues which have been altered antige- netically by various factors. These include myocardial infarction, X-irradi- ation, enzymatic or other chemical alteration, and changes induced by infectious disease agents or by drugs. Erythrocytes, platelets and leucocytes are the most affected cells. Various organs may also be affected. 3. Vaccination with heterologous antigens which are sufficiently different to permit an immunological response (1948), and it has not lost any of its but sufficiently alike to react with autol- punch and relevance since it was pub- ogous antigens. lished. They describe three cases of nurses who were literally 4. Alteration of the immunological apparatus so as to result in vaccinated to death. The authors surveyed a group of 750 nurses the failure of recognition of self. This occurs in neoplasia of the — who trained at a large municipal hospital between 1932 and 1946, lymphatic system and in experimental grafting of immunological- and detailed the cases of three nurses who were vaccinated with a ly competent heterologous lymphatic tissues under conditions multitude of vaccines over a period of time and developed and which suppress the host's response to the graft and give rise to the succumbed to disseminated lupus erythematosus. same symptoms of EAE as the labora- tory animals, the causal link to the administered vaccine is always disput- ed and usually considered "coinciden- tal". Lately, innocent parents and other carers have been accused of causing the symptoms of vaccine dam- age by allegedly shaking their babies. Systemic lupus erythematosus is one of the innumerable recognised side- effects of a number of vaccinations. One of the best papers (if not the best) on this is by Ayvazian and Badger vaccine damage by allegedly shaking their babies. wasting "runt disease" or "homologous disease". Typically, these nurses were given the following tests and vac- 5. Possible hereditary or other immunological abnormality. cines in short succession: the Schick test; three days later, the This is represented by a hyper-reactivity to antigens or other aber- Dick test; seven days later, typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine; seven rations without apparent antigenic stimulation. Such mechanisms days later, another typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine (a double dose); might be related to certain forms of the "collagen diseases", such seven days later, the third typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine; and seven as systemic lupus erythematosus in which there is an antibody days later, the fourth typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine. Every time, against a diversity of antigens. the recipient developed local erythema and/or fever and malaise, 6. Experimentally, Freund's mineral oil adjuvant (usually with but it did not deter the doctor from administering yet another added mycobacteria) and certain bacteria or bacterial toxins may series of vaccines, starting only 14 days after the first lot of tests so alter the host as to bring about a ready response to unaltered and typhoid-paratyphoid vaccines. normal homologous tissue. These "experimental autoallergies" This time, after all these injections, one of the trainee nurses Lately, innocent parents and other Rea na ee Ee accused of causing the symptoms of vaccine damage by allegedly shaking their babies. NEXUS - 43 carers have been FEBRUARY — MARCH 2001