Va. teen suffers rare illness after swine flu shot

[Bushknew]

Source: MSNBC

A 14-year-old Virginia boy is weak and struggling to walk after coming down with a reported case of Guillain-Barre syndrome within hours after receiving the H1N1 vaccine for swine flu.

But Vellozzi said there’s no clear link between the new vaccine and the disease.

“We know that GBS and other illnesses occur routinely in the U.S.,” Vellozzi said, noting that 80 to 120 cases are diagnosed each week in the general population.

“There are events that follow vaccination. That’s what they are, they happened to follow vaccination.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33845867/ns/health-cold_and_flu/

[nickinSTL]

1. uh, yeah.

first, this isn't exactly breaking - I saw this a couple days ago.

second, the incidence of GBS with flu shots (regular seasonal flu) is 1 in a MILLION. Very rare.

and with the H1N1 shot - it's even MORE rare - from the article, looks like about 1 in 8 million.

Makes the article title seem like it's sensationalist fear-mongering to me.

[Bushknew]

3. If this isn't breaking news, then post the article that you saw a couple of days ago.

Make me a liar.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. The MSNBC article was first posted over a day before now

Hence the reference to it here:

Jordan McFarland, 14, was hospitalized one week for treatment of muscle spasms, weakness in his legs, and severe headaches after receiving the H1N1 vaccination, according to an MSNBC.com report. He remains confined to a wheelchair and must undergo extensive physical therapy in order to fully recover, doctors say.
...
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 3:49 pm

http://www.attorneyatlaw.com/2009/11/teen-has-deadly-muscle-disorder-after-getting-h1n1-vaccination/

[Chemisse]

5. If the current numbers are correct

18 out of 100,000 infected are dying from the swine flu. That is not very many, but is sure is a much higher risk than the GB syndrome.

So the vaccination is still a much better bet.

[emilyg]

10. well then - unrec.

[TheDebbieDee]

13. I had Guillain-Barre after a swine flu shot back in the fall of '74

or '75, but in my case it was several weeks before I felt any ill effects.

Andy Griffith had it at about the same time, too.

[Recursion]

18. What's the incidence of severe complications from swine flu?

Ah, saw it up-thread, 18 in 100,000. Good to know.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. "no clear link"

Yep, just happened out of the blue.

I wish they could focus more attention on this "no clear link" to figure out why the vaccine does this in certain cases.

I am not an anti-vac person (and did have the shot in '76) but this is disconcerting to say the least.

[clear eye]

12. Most cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome like other auto-immune illnesses

do just happen "out of the blue".

If there is a connection to flu vaccines it is so small as to not show up in the statistics. Whereas death and disability is clearly correlated w/ this flu, especially in "high-risk" individuals and children. The odds of serious harm is just off the scale greater for this flu than for its vaccine. It is a very sad, but inescapable fact of medical reality that when you trigger someone's immune system, a tiny fraction of people with genetically susceptible immune systems will react w/auto-immune illness. These are the same individuals who tend to develop auto-immune conditions at some point in their lives even w/o the stimulation of vaccines.

My niece has an auto-immune condition called "ankylosing spondylitis", so I looked into its causes. Firstly there's a predisposing gene which she has. Then it has been theorized that one of the proteins on the surface of a type of bacteria that sometimes causes food poisoning is very similar to a protein in human collagen, so these susceptible people when infected develop auto-antibodies for collagen. These antibodies are produced in quantity when one further over-generalization of the immune system occurs, and the bacteria/collagen immune reaction is extended to a common intestinal bacteria that feeds on starches, harmlessly in people w/ normal immune systems. That is why quite a few people w/ AS do well on a very low starch diet.

The point I'm making is that all sorts of things trigger auto-antibodies in a very small % of people. It would be very poor judgement for a person considered high-risk for complications from a serious illness to not get the vaccine against it due to fear of this extremely unlikely event.

The most important counterindication for flu vaccine is severe allergy to egg whites, as most versions contain some. I have heard tell of one version that does not, but I'm not sure if it is actually in production. If you or your child has a severe allergy, follow the allergist's advice.

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. Bless her heart.

:(

I was Dx with MS at age 36. I don't know how I would have held up with the Dx without those life experiences behind me.

Again, I am not anti-vax, I just wish they knew more about the risk profiles.

[clear eye]

15. According to the NIH, they are doing research into various aspects

Scientists are concentrating on finding new treatments and refining existing ones. Scientists are also looking at the workings of the immune system to find which cells are responsible for beginning and carrying out the attack on the nervous system. The fact that so many cases of Guillain-Barré begin after a viral or bacterial infection suggests that certain characteristics of some viruses and bacteria may activate the immune system inappropriately. Investigators are searching for those characteristics. Neurological scientists, immunologists, virologists, and pharmacologists are all working collaboratively to learn how to prevent this disorder and to make better therapies available when it strikes.

Their informational page indicates that it more often occurs after a viral or bacterial illness itself, than after a vaccine. "Usually Guillain-Barré occurs a few days or weeks after the patient has had symptoms of a respiratory or gastrointestinal viral infection. Occasionally, surgery or vaccinations will trigger the syndrome." In other words, contracting the flu creates a greater risk for GBS than being vaccinated for it. And fortunately almost all people, like the poster above, recover. Death due to flu is a little harder to get over.

[Barack_America]

4. Within hours? Unlikely due to the H1N1 shot.

JAMA did a study regarding GB following flu shots and found the median onset to be 13 DAYS following the shot.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/292/20/2478

Of course, the occurrence is so rare, they only had 500 cases from a 13 year period to study.

[Bushknew]

6. Seriously, why would somebody unrecommend this news story?

[elocs]

8. Simple: so they could get the attention you just gave them.

Capiche?

[emilyg]

9. I thought the same thing. Bunch of stupid.

[Archae]

11. ONE GUY gets a syndrome that may not be caused by the vaccine.

PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! The vaccine makers are trying to poison everyone! Yibble yibble yibble...

I am *STILL* recovering from the swine flu, a fucking MONTH later.

The anti-vaccination idiots, and that includes the asshole Bill Maher, should just STFU.

[demigoddess]

19. I took Zetia for two months and it took me 6 months to recover from that

I am a believer in vaccines, I just have lost my trust in the people who make medicines. I reacted badly to all of the cholesterol lowering meds, and wonder if there is some reason. did the medical people rush into this before all the real research is done.

[cabluedem]

20. Me too! Read the info on COL meds side effects at www.spacedoc.net. nt

[yellowcanine]

16. GBS is a possibility with ALL viral illnesses and vaccines.

But it is so rare as to be almost insignificant - unless you are the unlucky one of course - but even then GBS is usually not life threatening.

[yellowcanine]

17. Also given the sudden onset after the H1N1 vaccination, the GBS was LIKELY linked to ANOTHER virus

in the boy's system, not the H1N1 vaccination.