FLU Season and Dystonia

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Permalink Reply by karen on September 25, 2008 at 11:48am

hi cindyrella..i was one of the myspacer's that got hit with last year's flu..only it got me before i had a chance to get my flu shot and i ended up with not only the flu but bronchitis too..and it played havoc with my dystonia..i do not want to get as sick as i was last year..so yes i WILL be getting my flu shot.and i'll be getting it as soon as my dr's office calls and says the shots are available which should be around the first part of october.

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Permalink Reply by Cindyrella on September 25, 2008 at 8:01pm

Hi Karen:
And thank you for your reply. Ya! I do not want to get sick like that again either. My PCM will not have it until late Oct. Right now here in Texas they are offering at a few drug stores. I think I am going to go ahead and get it while i can. Many people in this area have a bug going around but it sure sounds like early cases of the flu....

Well, here is us to being well w/out flu!!!

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Permalink Reply by karen on September 25, 2008 at 8:41pm

Well, here is us to being well w/out flu!!!

i'll toast to that!!..and if there were places here in michigan that were offering the shots now i would definitely be first in line to get one..so you go girl!! ;0)

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Permalink Reply by beka on September 29, 2008 at 4:12pm

HI -
Here's what I tell my patients - get your shot when first available to avoid waiting times.. Already there is a bad flu-like virus going around. Always keep a extra bottle of Pedialyte to prevent dehydration at home. Obtained in the drugstrore. I have always taken the flu shot - mandated in those of us who work with patients and in healthcare.

There is a homeopathic form of the FLU shot ,but not sure if it works or not...no real research available.

In general, anyone who wants to reduce their chances of getting the flu can get vaccinated. However, certain people should get vaccinated each year. They are either people who are at high risk of having serious flu complications or people who live with or care for those at high risk for serious complications. People who should get vaccinated each year are:


People who should get vaccinated each year are:

1.) People at high risk for complications from the flu:

• People 65 years and older;

• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that house those with long-term illnesses;

• Adults and children 6 months and older with chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma;

• Adults and children 6 months and older who needed regular medical care or were in a hospital during the previous year because of a metabolic disease (like diabetes), chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicines or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS]);

• Children 6 months to 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin therapy. (Children given aspirin while they have influenza are at risk of Reye syndrome.);

• Women who will be pregnant during the influenza season;

• All children 6 to 59 months of age;

• People with any condition that can compromise respiratory function or the handling of respiratory secretions (that is, a condition that makes it hard to breathe or swallow, such as brain injury or disease, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders, or other nerve or muscle disorders.)

2.) People 50 to 64 years of age. Because nearly one-third of people 50 to 64 years of age in the United States have one or more medical conditions that place them at increased risk for serious flu complications, vaccination is recommended for all persons aged 50 to 64.

3.) People who can transmit flu to others at high risk for complications. Any person in close contact with someone in a high-risk group (see above) should get vaccinated. This includes all health-care workers, household contacts and out-of-home caregivers of children 6 to 59 months of age, and close contacts of people 65 years and older.


Persons Who Can Transmit Influenza to Those at High Risk

Persons who are clinically or subclinically infected can transmit influenza virus to persons at high risk for complications from influenza. The following groups should be vaccinated:
• physicians, nurses, and other personnel in both hospital and outpatient-care settings, including medical emergency response workers (e.g., paramedics and emergency medical technicians);

• employees of nursing homes and chronic-care facilities who have contact with patients or residents;

• persons who provide home care to persons in groups at high risk; and

• household contacts and out of home care givers of children less than 6 months of age.


Who Should Not Get a Flu Shot.

The following groups should not get a flu shot before talking with their doctor:
• People who are have a severe allergy to hens’ eggs
• People who have had a severe reaction to a flu shot in the past
• People who previously developed Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in the 6 weeks after getting a flu shot

More info about the Flu Shot from the CDC in Atlanta, GA :
http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/protect/keyfacts.htm

beka

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Permalink Reply by beka on September 29, 2008 at 4:13pm

NEVER WAIT LATE FOR GETTING A FLU SHOT >>> REMEMBER THE FLU SHOT SHORTAGE A FEW YEARS AGO>>>>QUITE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE DIED FROM THE FLU.

beka

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Permalink Reply by Robin Wood on October 14, 2009 at 6:02pm

Hello EVERYONE :)

Here is a video that is going around that I thought I'd share about a woman who got dystonia from this years flu shot.

Beka, just wondered about your thoughts on this, was it the actual flu shot or could it of been some of the meds used when she went to the ER when she came down with the actual flu ???

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Permalink Reply by beka on October 19, 2009 at 3:00pm

Robin- You are back !! Hw are you ? You have been missed.

beka

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Permalink Reply by onmom on October 15, 2009 at 8:13am

Yes, I have gotten the flu shot in the past. I remember one year I did get the vaccine I ended up with the flu anyway (this would have been at least 5 years ago). I was sick for weeks...I mean WEEKS! It took a good 6 weeks before I was able to work a full day at work.

Last I heard, for those in several provinces in Canada (my area included), the seasonal flu vaccine will not be available to the general public until after the H1N1 vaccine is given, so H1N1 will be late October/November, and seasonal after that, so probably beginning in December.

Regardless, I will likely be getting the vaccines.

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Permalink Reply by Ellen S on October 15, 2009 at 11:40am

I usually get the flu shot every year, in fact I headed out for one yesterday but they ran out before they ever opened their doors. I face a hospitalization soon (such a great place to pick up illness), and do NOT want to add flu as a reason to feel icky this year. I had decided on the normal yearly flu vaccine, but not the H1N1 shot. Here's why...

It's not about the shot, it's about the adjuvants -

I have worsening autoimmunity problems, and I am concerned about the adjuvants added to the vaccines. Adjuvants are additives that are mixed with the active "bugs" in the vaccine that trigger your body to create enhanced immunity to the disease. Here is a vaccine expert's explanation and opinion about current adjuvants:

While Swine Flu Vaccine Has Been Declared "Safe", Novel Adjuvants W...

The purpose of the adjuvant itself is to ramp up the body's immune response so they don't have to include as hefty a dose of 'bugs' for the same effect. My immune system is attacking my body, so ramping that up and creating a hyperactive situation (as is the purpose of the additive) is my concern.

Among many good points, the article and the physicians quoted states:

"[So tests of swine vaccines using novel adjuvants won't start until mid to late September, but vaccine is expected to be available for use in mid-October. If I understand this correctly, the adjuvants will have been tested for less than 4 weeks when they start being used. Yet autoimmune side effects take months to appear, in general. GBS took 4-8 weeks. Why aren't they already in US clinical trials?!--Nass]"

Further confusing me are the statements by doctors all over the media stating that the swine flu vaccine is no different than any other vaccine in the US. Why then, are so many also saying they will not take the vaccines themselves or suggest their family members do so?

Does this mean harmful adjuvants like Squalene are being used in other vaccines on the general population already? This Bloomberg article discusses this topic: Swine Flu Shot May Rely on Emergency Use of Additives It's an older article tho (this past summer) so this leaves me still wondering... are there adjuvants being added or not?! How can I find out, and which are the problem children?

So, whether or not Squalene is going to be used, it seems that aluminum already has been used.

This just further confuses me I'm afraid.

I can't help but wonder if that's not what has caused this poor girl's dystonia. Autoimmunity is a well-known cause of secondary dystonias. Of course there is always the issue of the other additives as well, and who knows what else that might have worked in concert to cause her problem. I know people here understand her life like no one else in the world can...

I've seen the devastating effects of over-vaccination in animals. I just hate that we have to be putting things in our bodies...

So I'm curious, in this and other groups, how many knew what an adjuvant was or were aware they're used in the production of vaccines we put in our bodies?

I got on here a minute ago because I stumbled on that video above and wanted to be sure it was posted here - thanks Robin!!

What do others here think of the video? Have you ever heard of Dystonia as a side-effect to a vaccine? I sure hadn't.

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Permalink Reply by Canary3 on October 17, 2009 at 12:04am

Genetically some of us are already @ a disadvantage, but then add now a possible concern with vaccines as Dystonia as a side effect,I'm now frightened for my adult children. How do I properly advise them? I have seen pts. with Guillain Barre Syndrome, rarely a side effect of vaccinations,but in 1976,that year was an exception. Why then should Dystonia sound so strange? I also suffer from asthma ,but will take chance that @ age 53 I have built antibodies to past exposure.

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Permalink Reply by beka on October 19, 2009 at 3:10pm

Hi All-
I just had the seasonal flu shot on Friday at work. Working with a dribbling nose and cough and a mask was not fun this weekend. Anyone with a chronic disorder , immune problem etc. such as Asthma should get the flu vaccine. After age 65, you should get the pneumonia vaccine every 10 years.

I must say that I have mixed feelings about the H1N1vaccine after hearing that distribution is not up to par by the www.cdc.gov. I am hearing of the good CBS 60 minutes report on the vaccines shown last nite.
Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5394553n
There are some very GOOD Comments aout the segment last evening and the possible relationship with the seasonal flu.

beka

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Permalink Reply by beka on November 2, 2009 at 8:09am

The Dystonia Flu-Shot Case
Published by Steven Novella under Neuroscience, Science and Medicine, Skepticism
Comments: 1
Robert E. Bartholomew is a social scientist who specializes in mass delusions. He describes them here, in an article he wrote for the NESS, but also in a longer article here for the Skeptical Inquirer and in his several books. About mass delusions he writes:

A collective delusion is the term most commonly used by social scientists to describe the relatively spontaneous spread of false beliefs that do not occur in an organized, institutionalized or ritualistic fashion.

Today, we live in a connected virtual community, and YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, in addition to traditional media, are the medium through which community panic and delusions spread.

At this time there are two slow panics spreading through the community – fear of the H1N1 “swine” flu pandemic, and fear of the vaccine to prevent H1N1 flu. Regarding the pandemic itself – this is a real threat, it is just not known at this time how severe it will turn out to be. So far it is looking like another seasonal flu in severity, but with some different features, such as a greater tendency to severely affect otherwise healthy individuals.

The panic over the vaccine, however, is entirely manufactured, primarily by dedicated conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccinationists, and then aided by irresponsible media. There have been two stories in particular about alleged severe reactions following vaccines recently, one dealing with the HPV vaccine and the recent cased of what is being called dystonia following the seasonal flu vaccine. The young girl who died within hours of getting the HPV vaccine was found to have a heart defect, and her death had nothing to do with the vaccine, so that story was rather short-lived.

The new case making the rounds, however, appears to have some legs. It is getting international news attention, and I am being flooded with e-mail requests to analyze the case.

This is the story of Desiree Jennings, who is a 28 year old cheerleader who was apparently healthy until August when she received the seasonal flu vaccine. Ten days later she developed a severe respiratory illness, probably the flu, requiring hospitalization. She then developed an apparent neurological reaction in which she has difficulty speaking and walking, with involuntary muscle contractions and contortions. Her symptoms (including speech) are relieved, however, by walking backwards or by running. She also seems to have attacks of muscle contortions.

News reports are presenting her story as a rare vaccine reaction. Take a look at the video of her movements on this news report also.

This case, of course, has been immediately picked up by the anti-vaccine crowd. Generation Rescue, Jenny McCarthy’s anti-vaccine organization, wasted no time in exploiting this poor girl for their own agenda. She is now the latest poster child in the war against vaccines.

The media is largely covered in fail over their reporting of this case. They failed to ask basic journalistic questions – was the illness Jennings suffered from due to the vaccine, was it confirmed as the flu, and was it the strain from the vaccine, was the incubation period compatible with a vaccine-induced flu, did she get the live-virus version of the vaccine, does she really have dystonia, has that diagnosis been verified, are their other possibilities, and what is the plausibility that it was caused by the vaccine?

None of these basic questions are addressed in the news reports – instead we are given an emotional report of a “one in a million” (a figure apparently pulled out of someone’s but) vaccine reaction. Her episodes are called “seizures” when they are almost certainly not seizures. Her condition has also been called permanent and irreversible – without any justification.

Normally I try to refrain from making medical diagnoses in public cases – but Jennings has now inserted herself in to the anti-vaccine movement, and is using her own case to “warn about the dangers of vaccines.” To mitigate the damage to public health brought about by misinformation in this case, I think it is necessary to provide some expert opinion.

The movements and symptoms that Ms. Jennings displays on the public videos I have seen (linked to above) are not compatible with the diagnosis of dystonia, or any other movement disorder. Dystonia is one type of involuntary contraction of muscles. It can be reduced or exacerbated by certain movements or positions, and there are “task specific” dystonia, such as writer’s cramp, that come out only with certain activity. Jennings does not display the type of movements that are consistent with dystonia. Her speech and movement are, however, very suggestive of a psychogenic disorder.

This also seems to be the consensus opinion of experts who have viewed this case. The Dystonia Medical Research Foundation had this to say about the case:

Because of the concern of individuals with dystonia as to whether or not to get a flu shot because of this reported case, we have sought the opinion of dystonia experts on this case. Based on the footage that has been shared with the public, it is their unanimous consensus that this case does not appear to be dystonia.

The one news report that I saw that actually consulted an expert for their opinion was Fox News. Leigh Vinocur, and emergency room physician, was interviewed and relayed the opinion that the neurologists she consulted were of the opinion that Jennings’ symptoms were consistent with a psychogenic disorder. In other words – her symptoms are not neurological, they are psychological. This does not mean she has any insight or voluntary control over her symptoms – they are involuntary and “real” – just not neurological in origin. Symptoms such as this are not uncommon reactions to emotional stress in some individuals. Given the evidence presented, I think this is a reasonable opinion.

Dr. Vinocur also points out that there are no reported cases of true dystonia resulting from the flu vaccine – this is not a known or established vaccine reaction.

Here is another interview on Fox with a movement disorder specialist, Dr. Stephen Grill, who concurs that (based upon the video, and not personal examination) Ms. Jennings does not have true dystonia but psychogenic dystonia.

It is therefore highly unlikely that whatever Jennings is suffering from now had anything to do with the flu vaccine she received in August. Unfortunately, this is not stopping irresponsible news coverage or exploitation by anti-vaccinationists. Further, Jennings is now in the hands of the Generation Rescue anti-vaccine quacks. I predict that they will be able to “cure” her, because psychogenic disorders can and do spontaneously resolve. They will then claim victory for their quackery in curing a (non-existent) vaccine injury.

In addition to the public harm, Ms. Jennings herself is likely to be harmed by the media attention her case is garnering. She likely could benefit from proper medical attention of her condition. But now she is publicly invested in her disorder, and is likely to accept care from those with their own anti-vaccine agenda. It is difficult enough dealing with psychogenic disorders without international public attention and controversy.

The medical community is always careful to point out that there are very rare reactions to vaccines. No one is claiming that they are 100% safe – no medical intervention is. But severe reactions are very rare. Meanwhile, about 36,000 people die each year in the US alone from the seasonal flu. That figure is likely to be higher this year, as seasonal strains are combined with the H1N1 strain to form a particularly bad flu season. We are fortunate that there are vaccines both for the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu, which is particularly well targeted because we know the strain.

Other measures for minimizing spread of the flu are, as always, also important – wash your hands, stay home if you are ill, and avoid contact with those with respiratory symptoms. But the vaccines are likely to significantly reduce the spread and severity of the flu. And yet, fear-mongering and misinformation, such as with the Jennings case, is scaring people away from the vaccines, without good cause.


One response so far

One Response to “The Dystonia Flu-Shot Case”
# agashemon 30 Oct 2009 at 9:08 am
Thank you for addressing this, as I physiotherapist (physical therapist) I was highly suspicious but since I am not a neurologist I wasn’t 100% certain. I was quite suspicious as she could run normally, I have never seen a patient with a movement disorder who could do things rapidly but not slowly or slower, it doesn’t make any sense. Thanks again.

-----------Just had this sent to me.
beka

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