Vaccine Adjuvant Aluminum

About Vaccine Adjuvant Aluminum

Aluminum salts have been used as vaccine adjuvants since the 1920s. Alexander Glenny at the Wellcome Research Laboratories discovered that aluminum compounds enhanced immune responses. Proposed mechanisms include a depot effect at the injection site and activation of innate immune pathways, including the NLRP3 inflammasome. Despite decades of use, the mechanism is still not fully understood. Alum is in DTaP, hepatitis A and B, HPV, pneumococcal, and other vaccines. Anti vaccine activists claim aluminum adjuvants cause autism and other conditions. Large studies have not found evidence that aluminum adjuvants cause autism or other chronic conditions. Estimates suggest that the amount of aluminum infants receive from vaccines in early life is of a similar order to that received through diet. Aluminum adjuvants remain essential for many vaccines.