To remedy this they added an oil called squalene—an "adjuvant"—to stimulate the immune system

Vaccine-A

In 1978, the Pentagon began developing an anthrax vaccine of unsurpassed safety and purity. Soon, however, military scientists learned that their new vaccine, though pure, was also ineffective. To remedy this they added an oil called squalene—an "adjuvant"—to stimulate the immune system. What the scientists didn't know, but should have known, is that squalene causes autoimmune diseases: chronic and even life-threatening diseases like lupus erythematosus, crippling arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. Matsumoto reveals that even very recently, squalene-laced "vaccine A" continues to be secretly injected into Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel.

Vaccine-A introduces you to the victims of this experimental mistake. We meet an Army sergeant whose skin became so diseased that doctors, in a desperate attempt to cure him, removed every square inch of skin from his body. We read the story of a Green Beret colonel who, suffering walking blackouts that left him unable to find his way home, was misdiagnosed for years and even accused of bleeding himself to distort his laboratory tests. We see that others, including a man whose cerebellum literally shrank until he could no longer walk straight or write his name, were often told they had psychiatric disorders or were accused of malingering.

We also meet the doctors, Pamela and Kevin Asa, who uncovered the truth about these illnesses despite strong opposition by the Pentagon and National Institutes of Health.

Finally, Vaccine-A warns about what is yet to happen. The military, the vaccine's manufacturer, and the Department of Health and Human Services all refuse to admit that any experiment took place or that they are responsible for its devastating effects. Instead, they continue to inject the same anthrax vaccine into Iraq War soldiers and plan a release for civilian consumption soon. Should these vaccines become widely used, Matsumoto predicts, we should expect a man-made epidemic of unprecedented size.