Auto-immune risks of hepatitis B vaccination: a clue to biological plausibility

An Important new study by Marc Girard and Yannick Comenge regarding the safety of Hepatitis B vaccine has been published in Medical Hypothesis, August 2005.

Dr Marc Girard (Versailles, France), a specialist in the side-effects of drugs, was commissioned as a medical expert witness by French courts, and spent thousands of hours evaluating the problems related to hepatitis B vaccination. Although most of his results remain confidential by court order, Dr. Girard recently disclosed evidence demonstrating that this specific vaccine is remarkable by the unusual frequency, severity and variety of its adverse events (Autoimmun Rev 2005; 4: 96-100). He also reported that studies performed by the French health authorities and revealing clear auto-immune risks have remained unpublished.

Apparently concerned by the strength of the clinical and epidemiological evidence presented, leading experts in auto-immunity wrote an accompanying editorial challenging the author to provide credible mechanisms for these toxic effects (Autoimmun Rev 2005; 4: 79-81).

In a publication now in press in Medical Hypotheses and currently available on line, Drs. Comenge and Girard discuss the toxicity spectrum of the Hepatitis B vaccine and its clinical manifestations, namely: 1) vaccine-induced findings of hepatitis B (as predicted quite earlier during the development of the vaccine); 2) central demyelinating diseases, the epidemiological evidence of which is beyond reasonable doubt, and which might be triggered by minute amounts of a viral polymerase protein contaminating the vaccine.

Because of the significance and scope of these observations, Dr. Girard suggests that even in highly-endemic countries, the risk/benefit ratio of this unusually toxic vaccine must be carefully re-assessed.

Multiple Sclerosis and Hepatitis B Vaccination

Yannick Comenge, Marc Girard     Article - PDF

Summary

In spite of a huge number of reports of severe hazards after injection of hepatitis B vaccine (HBV), the issue is regularly raised that no mechanism is available for the development of central demyelinating disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS). A number of convergent facts, however, suggests that the manufacturing process could introduce HBV polymerase as a contaminant, and then trigger an auto-immune process against myelin in some vaccinated subjects. Of great significance, this hypothesis is likely to give the missing link to account for the considerable body of clinical and epidemiological evidence documenting that, for a drug used with a preventive purpose, HBV has an unusual potential to induce central neurological disorders amongst others unwanted side-effects. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.