<A HREF="http://www.eaglefoundation.net/Vaccine%202001.htm">
http://www.eaglefoundation.net/Vaccine%202001.htm</A>

Are Vaccines Skewing the Human Immune System?

In brief summary, the immune system is divided into two major classes:
Cellular immunity, in which the mucous membranes of the body play a prominent
role, and humoral immunity, with the production of antigen-specific
antibodies by plasma cells in the bone marrow. Cellular immunity, which
involves macrophage activation and the cytotoxic T lymphocyte as its major
agents, is responsible for control of viruses, fungi, as well as bacteria.
Humoral immunity, on the other hand, is predominantly involved in control of
bacteria.

Both of these classes are governed by TH lymphocytes, the “T” referring to
the thymus gland, from which they are derived, and the “H” referring to a
helper or activating activity. Early in life these “naïve” or uncommitted
TH lymphocytes are differentiated into either armed TH1 cells, which governs
in cellular immunity or armed TH2 cells, which governs in humoral immunity.
This initial differentiation , at which naïve TH cells become either armed
TH1 cells or armed TH2 cells has a critical impact on the outcome of adaptive
immune response, depending on whether it is dominated by macrophage
activation of the former or antibody production of the latter.(79)

It has been found that this differentiation is profoundly affected by
cytokines, which are produced by lymphocytes and serve as chemical
messengers. The two cytokines, Interleukin 12 and Interferon gamma, in
vitro, tend to promote the development of TH1 cells. Interleukin 4, 5, 6,
and l0, on the other hand, tend to promote the differentiation of TH2
cells.(80)

Once one subset becomes dominant, it is difficult to shift the response to
the other subset, as the cytokines from one subset tend to dominate the
other. The overall effect is that certain reponses are dominated either by
humoral (TH2) or cell-mediated (TH1) responses.(81)

Among the different cytokines, some have been shown to have damaging effects:
Interleukin I may cause increased blood brain barrier permeability and
meningeal inflammation(82) and brain damage in experimental animals.(83)
Interferon-gamma has been found to reduced the intestinal barrier and
increase permeability,(84,85) and to bring about profound morphological,
functional, and permeability changes in human brain blood-vessel endothelial
cells.(86) The study by Pabst and coworkers, previously mentioned as the
first of its kind, with the testing of cytokines before-and-after the MMR
vaccine, found that the predominant response was an increase in
interferon-gamma.(11) As has just been shown (references 84 and 85),
interferon gamma increases intestinal permeability. Does this tie in with
the findings of increased intestinal permeability that has been found in
children with autism(87) and consequently with the MMR vaccine?

In both the New England Journal of Medicine(88) and the journal, Thorax,(89)
articles have appeared stating that a healthy immune system has a “bias”
towards the TH1 immune system, while people with allergies, asthma, and
diseases of an autoimmune origin have what is known as the TH2-skewed immune
response. However, either antibodies or T cells of the cellular immune
system can cause tissue damage in autoimmune diseases.(90)

A study of cytokine levels in 20 autistic children by S Gupta and coworkers
found that TH1 cytokines were consistently lowered and TH2 cytokines were
consistently elevated as compared with controls.(91) Once again, does this
tie in with immunizations? Are immunizations tilting the immune systems into
TH2-skewed immune response? Considering that vaccines are administered by
parenteral injection, designed primarily to stimulate antibody response, this
would appear to be the case.

However, we cannot know the answers to this and other similar questions until
definitive studies are done, testing both the immediate and long-term effects
of vaccines on the human system. Among these, the testing of cytokines and
related lymphocyte subpopulations before-and-after immunizations appear to be
the most promising.

Gulf War Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia:

In a study of 33 veterans suffering with symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome, there
were marked increases in markers indicating increased coagulability of the
blood of the subjects as compared with healthy controls.(92) The authors
hypothesized that exposures to chemical, biological, warfare pathogens,
and/or vaccine adjuvants (including the controversial anthrax vaccine) during
the Persian Gulf War had brought about immune reactions which had activated
the coagulation system by the cross reaction of antibodies with
antithrombotic (anticlotting) proteins lining the endothelial surfaces of
blood vessels, the end result being a deposition of fibrin within blood
vessels and a reduction of blood flow. Similar hypercoagulability states
have been found in patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome.(93)

At this point no one knows to what extent each of the various exposures
(chemicals, biological warfare, and/or vaccines) played in the pathogenesis
in the Gulf War Illness, but serious investigators have little doubt it was a
combination of these exposures that caused the illness. Considering that the
GWS and CFS have much in common clinically as well as in laboratory findings,
should we not be investigating the possibility that two conditions have
similar causes?