Vaccine A: The Covert Government Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers - and Why GI's are Only the First Victims [Hardcover]

This book is frightening if true. The premise, set forth in the introduction and detailed in the book, is that the US government has used experimental vaccines from the Desert Shield / Storm era through today on GI's and other individuals. Author Gary Matsumoto methodically - sometimes excruciatingly so - grinds through facts and builds a circumstantial case supported by nearly 60 pages of endnotes.

Matsumoto was the first writer to publish a connection between the anthrax vaccine and the Gulf War Syndrome, doing so in an article published in Vanity Fair in 1999. His book, Vaccine A, is the spawn of that article.

Matsumoto does not have an evident bias of distrust in the US government or even the military. He acknowledges the need to develop and use a vaccine effective against anthrax. He is even willing to understand the failure to obtain knowing consent from those injected with an unlicensed vaccine due to the exigent nature of the Gulf conflict and the fear of biological agents in the possession of Saddam Hussein - at least initially.

As his investigation progresses, Matsumoto learns that one of the ingredients of Vaccine A (anthrax vaccine) is squalene. This oily substance is an adjuvant that stimulates the immune system. Unfortunately, this oil too closely resembles oils found in the body and as a result, the body's immune system begins to attack itself. This causes a plethora of autoimmune diseases.

Disturbingly, it appears that a wealth of scientific knowledge about the dangers of squalene was available to a thorough researcher prior to the Gulf War. Even more disturbing is the unwillingness of the US military to acknowledge more than ten years later the fact that squalene in Vaccine A caused a large number of "casualties".

Matsumoto asserts that the US has stockpiled 75,000,000 doses of Vaccine A with squalene for future use by the military and civilians. He further assets that the several other vaccines have been or are in the process of being developed with the adjuvant of squalene.

At times, this book is like reading a textbook - it is grueling. However, the acquired knowledge is worth the effort. This book should be read (or at least the introduction) by anybody who has family or friends in the military or is contemplating a career in the military. Apparently, enemy fire and friendly fire are not the only risks of military service.

In the "how I would improve this book" category I suggest photographs of key individuals mentioned in the book. Also, it would be helpful include a complete copy of the insert that accompanies the current anthrax vaccine.

A tough book to read - but five stars all the same.

This book confirmed my suspicions. I was daignosed in April 2003 with Multiple Myeloma (an immune system cancer of the plasma cells) while being Active Duty military. The military denied any relation of the Vaccine to the disease. I also developed other illnesses right after the shots. I received 5 of a 6 shot series. I also have 7 vertebrae that have cement in them so I can walk - a direct cause of the cancer. For more information on Mulplie Myeloma go to the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) www.myeloma.org and please make a donation or buy your books through the IMF's Amazon.com link.

You can take this book SERIOUSLY because almost 1/5 of the book is devoted to DOCUMENTATION, much obtained from the US Government only available to the Freedom of Information Act. It is a truy impressive, in fact the most impressive and documented book I have ever read. Bob Woodward could learn from Gary Matsumoto.

I even sent Pam Asa, the heroine of the true story, an e-mail and she did respond. If you or one of your loved ones received the Anthrax shots buy this book, read it, and pass it on to others. The book is well written, puts real science into everyday English, and is interesting. There is no reason not to buy it and read it. Buying this book will actually encourage other journalists to investigate real issues and publish the work.

Do not allow the subtitle, "The Covert Government Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers and Why GI's Are Only the First Victims" to turn you off this book. It could be misinterpreted as a new age conspiracy theory-type work, when it is in fact a most seriously-minded piece.

Matsumoto does an immediately fine job of walking the reader through the molecular biology that is requisite to understanding the argument of his book: that US military researchers (biochemists and molecular biologists) began using the oil "squalene" as the main adjuvant to the Anthrax vaccine which was created to immunize US, British, and Canadian military forces prior to the first Gulf War (this was necessary because it was thought Saddam Hussein had a functional Anthrax biological weapon).

The oil squalene has a molecular composition very similar to other lipids (fatty, waxy substances) found naturally in the body; however when squalene is injected as the adjuvant of an Anthrax vaccine, the body begins producing antibodies against squalene -- which the immune system then has difficulty distinguishing from its own naturally-occurring lipids. The result is that the body begins destroying itself, causing severe autoimmune diseases such as Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, and a host of others.

Extant vaccine stockpiles being very low and almost incompetent to provide protection against Anthrax prior to the first Gulf War, military scientists were charged with producing an "improved" vaccine capable of protecting against multiple, highly virulent strains of the Anthrax bacillus -- with little time in which to do it. This eventually led them to utilize squalene as an adjuvant in their "improved" vaccine (for reasons only they truly know), which then killed or seriously incapacitated many servicepeople with autoimmune diseases for the rest of their lives.

A large portion of Matsumoto-san's book discusses how US military scientists had a corpus of specialist immunological literature at hand that demonstrated these diseases developed in clinical trial, when squalene was injected into guinea pigs and rats (which they then ignored and even denied was valid).

The book then goes on to give many intimate, clinical descriptions of the diseases developed by some of the soldiers after receiving Anthrax vaccine from certain lots. Research conducted by Dr. Pam Asa and Dr. Bob Garry to determine the cause of these diseases is then discussed in some detail, along with the realization that it was the Armed Force's Anthrax vaccine that was causing symptoms commonly referred to as "Gulf War Syndrome."

Matsumoto is to be commended for maintaining a neutral tone throughout the book, which must have been difficult. The examination is most fair; he even does a good job of conveying the anxiety that must have been experienced by the military scientists responsible for producing the "wonder drug" in 10 seconds or less.

His rather skilful writing does not emerge as anti-military, anti-establishment, or even anti-FDA, although any of these positions would be understandable given his experiences. Neither does he spend any time bashing the 'villains' of the story, instead reporting the actions of certain high ranking military officers and doctors and then moving on. Matsumoto-san's narrative is accompanied by copious footnotes, leaving the reader to pass his or her own moral judgements. The voice of the author emerges only when he compassionately describes the suffering of the soldiers who developed these advanced autoimmune diseases as a result of the military-issued Anthrax vaccines they received. Excellent journalism: utilizing a format which strengthens the credibility of his arguments (show and tell, not scream and preech).

One criticism is that Matsumoto-san takes up too much space pursuing his argument in the end-game. The last hundred or so pages were almost all reiteration of the earlier, prerequisite arguments for understanding the main gist of the book; this reiteration could have been dispensed with completely to make the book shorter and more poignant, as well as tighter in focus and organization. The message of the book arguably would have been much sharper if it had ended when Matsumoto reported his last clinical case and then ended the manuscript. Instead I found myself scanning and then skipping large sections of the end of the book to get to the wider-spaced clinical and research details.

Importantly this work does not suffer from the editorial issues that are becoming common in mass-market books today. The grammar, spelling and type editing of the book are very good, with few mistakes observed.

The issue the book introduces is most serious, and Matsumoto-san should be congratulated for having the courage to pursue the research in the face of what amounts to official ridicule. A highly recommended read, especially within the wider context of historical Anthrax epidemiology (the likes of which is touched upon by way of introduction to the present volume within the context of the Sverdlovsk outbreak in the former Soviet Union).

Four stars given for the importance of the subject matter and the skill with which it is conveyed; a shorter, tighter book might have merited five stars. Bravo for a fine effort.