As the
flu season arrives and we’re encouraged to get a shot that—hopefully—will keep
us healthy, it’s important to know exactly what risks may accompany this
vaccine. The threat I’ll focus on in this blog post is a particularly serious
one, and it’s one you probably don’t know about: Guillain- Barré Syndrome
(GBS).
According to the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention, “Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare
disorder in which a person’s own immune system damages their nerve cells,
causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. GBS can cause symptoms that
last for a few weeks. Most people recover fully from GBS, but some people have
permanent nerve damage. In very rare cases, people have died of GBS, usually
from difficulty breathing.”[1]
The symptoms of this disorder are so similar to polio that some people suspect
that Franklin Delano Roosevelt actually had GBS and not polio (check out http://news.sciencemag.org/2003/10/did-fdr-have-guillain-barr%C3%A9
for an article on this topic).
These symptoms are mentioned in the package insert of
all currently available flu vaccines, and even manufacturers and government
officials don’t deny the connection between the vaccine and GBS. According to
an article in Health Impact News Daily, “if you go to an emergency room with
sudden onset of GBS symptoms, the first question the doctors will ask you is:
‘Did you recently get the flu shot?’”[2]
If you’d like to read the package inserts for any of this year’s flu vaccines,
they’re available at the National Vaccine Information Center website (http://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/Influenza/Influenza-Vaccine-Package-Inserts.aspx).
So, how many patients contract GBS symptoms from the
flu shot? While the actual number is hard to pinpoint, you can look at the
settlements for GBS in the Vaccine Court, a program passed by Congress in 1986
that handles claims against vaccine manufacturers.[3]
Even a quick glance of all
vaccine-related cases in this court shows that the majority are for GBS and the
flu vaccine. Though U.S. law does not allow you to sue the manufacturers of
vaccines for damages or death, settlements from the Vaccine Court are funded
via a tax on the sales of vaccines.
Attorney Howard Gold
of Gold Law Firm, one of the many lawyers who have settled cases for GBS due to
a flu vaccine (in 2011) stated:
“Petitioners have three
(3) years from the onset of the injury (or two years from date of death) to
file a claim. I receive at least 5 calls a month from individuals who cannot
obtain compensation because the deadline has passed. They just found out about
it too late. We all need to do a better job in getting the word out to the
public...”[4]
Because the symptoms of
GBS can present themselves from a few days to a month after receiving a flu
shot, many people who have symptoms don’t necessarily connect them to the
vaccine. This is one reason why it’s so very important for us to educate
ourselves (and others) on the dangers of the flu vaccine. When government and
medical systems don’t make the risks clear to us, it’s our responsibility to
investigate for ourselves so that we don’t choose a vaccine that may ultimately
make us sicker.
[1]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS)
Questions & Answers. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/guillainbarre.htm
[2]
December 30, 2013. “Flu Shot Causes Polio-like Guillain-Barré
Syndrome: Are Rates Higher than the Government Admits?” http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/flu-shot-causes-polio-like-guillain-barre-syndrome-are-rates-higher-than-the-government-admits/
[3]
“Vaccine court” Wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine_court
[4] December
30, 2013. “Flu Shot Causes Polio-like Guillain-Barré
Syndrome: Are Rates Higher than the Government Admits?” http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/flu-shot-causes-polio-like-guillain-barre-syndrome-are-rates-higher-than-the-government-admits/
No comments:
Post a Comment