title: Safety review: squalene and thimerosal in vaccines.
abstract: Few studies show the reluctance of the people to get vaccinated against A (H1N1) influenza for fear of side effects of squalene (MF59, AS03, AF03) and thimerosal. The aim of this paper is to assess the safety in using these adjuvants and preservative reviewing data of clinical trials relative to which formulation includes these compounds. In the current state of knowledge, these vaccines have proved to be effective even though they more frequently give local adverse events than non-adjuvanted influenza vaccines. Systemic side effects are generally not serious. In the studies, adjuvanted vaccines do not increase neither the risk of Guillain Barre syndrome nor auto-immune diseases. There is no convincing evidence that exposure to thimerosal in vaccines had any deletorious effect on physiological outcome.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmaco-Chimie Radicalaire, Faculté de Pharmacie, Universités d'Aix-Marseille I, II et III, UMR-CNRS 6264, Laboratoire Chimie Provence, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montana
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verhaeghe
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ducros
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Terme
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vanelle
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rathelot
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000139:chemically induced; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000737:chemistry; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control; D011247:Pregnancy; D011310:Preservatives, Pharmaceutical / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012449:Safety; D013185:Squalene / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013849:Thimerosal / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D011310:Preservatives, Pharmaceutical; D013849:Thimerosal; D013185:Squalene