Dachel Media Update: Flu Shot Blamed for Girl's Paralysis
By Anne Dachel
Read Anne's commentary and view the links after the jump. The Dachel Media Update is sponsored by Aperture International.
Nov 3, 2015, Fox News: Mom blames daughter's paralysis on flu shot
A Florida woman says her daughter became paralyzed after getting a routine flu shot.
Carla Grivna says her child was happy and healthy until getting the flu shot just before the Thanksgiving Day holiday last year. Three days later, however, her daughter Marysue could not move or talk, Grivna said. The child is now a bedridden 10-year-old diagnosed with a rare viral infection of the brain called Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, or ADEM. Carla Grivna believes what happened is directly tied to the flu shot.
“The doctors won’t confirm it or deny it,” the mother told "Fox & Friends" Sunday. “Her father Steven and I are certain, due to all of our research, that this was what caused Marysue’s condition. She was a happy, healthy, running and playing 9-year-old then this happened.”
Paralysis following the flu vaccine, a "medical mystery"? Like the puzzle we call "autism"?
They're talking about Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
Video:
Fox and Friends' Tucker Carlson: "Any physician will tell you, if he's honest, that this could be side effect, and yet parents don't know that. And I think you're absolutely right, parents should be informed."
If you check out the package inserts for the flu vaccines available, GBS is listed.
On the government's vaccine websites, they mention GBS at the same they try to convince us that there's really no proof that developing paralysis following a vaccine is nothing more than a coincidence.
I talked with Louis Conte, author of Vaccine Injuries; this is his response.
Cases involving GBS, demylenating disorders and other
neurological injuries that result in paralysis have been compensated by
the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program for years. The problem
is that the NVICP refuses to provide the public and the medical
profession with meaningful information about the compensation program
and the reality of vaccine injury despite the fact that Congress
intended the NVICP to do so. A recent General Accounting Office report
also pointed this out this failure. It is time for vaccine injury cases
compensated by the federal government to be fully and independently
studied.
Louis Conte
http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/updatevaccineinjurytable2013.pdf
Decision:
http://www.mctlawyers.com/vaccine-cases/vaccine-case-results/12-533V-flu-shot-guillain-barre-syndrome.pdf
http://www.ccandh.com/decisions/riley.pdf
http://www.cofc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/MILLMAN.RANSOM07302013.pdf
Aperture International provides visionary products that translate scientific breakthroughs into outstanding health benefits for our clients worldwide. Based on 24 years of research and clinical experience, the Aperture line of supplements was formulated for individuals who require the highest level of quality and purity. Visit us at Aperture International.
Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism and author of The Big Autism Cover-Up: How and Why the Media Is Lying to the American Public, which is on sale now from Skyhorse Publishing.
Curt,
I want to add that once it became known that antibodies formed during natural mumps infection prevented later ovarian cancer cases, it became a crime to give children mumps vaccine. Boys, because preventing the spread of the mumps virus in childhood could prevent a life saving case of mumps from being contracted by girls and because boys that contract mumps in adulthood risk sterility.
Mumps was a mild childhood illness. Mankind has an extremely incomplete, elementary understanding of human - microbial interaction, evolutionary expectations and norms, of what is beneficial, necessary and harmful.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951028/
Posted by: Linda1 | November 07, 2015 at 12:35 AM
Curt,
Measles was a very dangerous illness in the nineteenth century, but evolved to become a relatively mild disease. I had it when I was six, the way 99% of kids did then by the age of eighteen. Four million cases a year, the entire birth cohort, an average of 450 deaths a year in the early '60s. Like Linda, I'm glad I had it, glad I could protect my daughter in her first year when getting measles might be dangerous for her. Glad to get permanent immunity, a stronger immune system and protection from many diseases and cancers in later life, all benefits offered by natural measles.
Measles kills a lot of malnourished people in the Third World, not because it's a dangerous disease, but because malnourished people have very weak immune systems. Measles can kill one in ten children who gets it in the Third World (but very few if they take vitamin A). On the other hand, a Senegalese study showed that among the 90% of children who got and recovered from measles there, there was a mortality rate only one-fifth that of children who had not had natural measles. Having natural measles improves immune functioning enough to protect the children who had had it, to the point that children who had NOT had measles DIED five times as often.
Measles in developed countries is mild and rarely dangerous. It can kill one or two in every 10,000 cases, cause measles encephalitis in one in 10,000 cases, but the prognosis for complete recovery is good. It can cause mild complications in one in twenty cases, things like diarrhea, ear infection, bronchitis, but they can be treated as they usually are. Measles pneumonia is mild if it's viral and can usually be treated with antibiotics if it's bacterial. I think we need to let measles come back and teach parents how to care for measles patients, bed rest throughout until the fever is gone, adequate hydration, NO fever reducers of any kind, and three weeks quiet recuperation time after the day the rash appears, to avoid secondary infections taking hold during that time.
Posted by: cia parker | November 07, 2015 at 12:06 AM
Curt,
It is not necessarily that the incidence of ADEM decreased sharply after introduction of the measles vaccine, but that the etiology changed. From a 2005 case report in the journal Hospital Physician:
"Acute desseminated encephalomyelitits (ADEM) is an acute demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by diffuse neurologic signs and multifocal white matter lesions on neuroimaging. ADEM is most frequently seen in children and young adults, often following infection or immunization. Although characterized by a wide range of neurologic abnormalities, ADEM has a favorable long-term prognosis...
ADEM has a low incidence, and it is estimated that a hospital-based general pediatrician with access to MRI will probably see 1 case per year...The epidemiology of ADEM has changed over time. In the past, ADEM followed infections such as chicken pox, measles, and smallpox. Due to widespread immunization, ADEM in develooped countries is now seen most frequently after nonspecific upper respiratory tract infections and acute febrile illnesses."
http://www.turner-white.com/memberfile.php?PubCode=hp_may05_acute.pdf
The child in the above case study was a fully immunized 4 year old who had gotten her last series of shots at age 2. The report states that she had suffered from atopic dermatitis, recurrent episodes of otitis media and upper respiratory infection, as well a recent acute enteric illness prior to the month before developing ADEM in which she was reportedly "healthy". The authors state that while immunization can cause ADEM, with MMR causing the highest incidence of ADEM among the vaccines, that wild measles causes a 20x higher incidence.
Here's where I think they and you are getting it wrong. It is not known exactly what ADEM is or what causes it. In the postvaccine era, I propose that highly vaccinated children are so immune compromised and inflamed, as in the case of this fully vaccinated 4 year old who had a significant history of a series of infections and autoimmune disease, that ADEM is now seen in these children, and that vaccines are erroneously excluded as etiological agents. We also don't know if these same children would have been the ones to develop ADEM post wild measles infection either, because of some genetic or other innate predisposition, although I think I've heard this hypothesis.
And while I did not see or hear of ADEM in my child and young adulthood, I have unfortunately seen and heard of many cases of vaccine strain induced encephalitis. Then there is the fact that vaccine strain measles has been isolated living in the intestines of sick children.
It is perplexing how some of your generation can be so protective of a strategy that has clearly put you at risk. I am in my 60's and my father is in his 90's. Of all the challenges that we face in our old age, worrying about the measles, mumps, or chicken pox, are not among them. When I had my children they were protected from measles through placental transfer of my natural immunity and through breastfeeding for the better part of their first 2 years of life. Had I been vaccinated, as with your generation, my babies would have been unprotected except for the first 2 or so months of life, if I was lucky, as vaccine immunity once vaccinated, isn't necessarily there as with natural immunity after natural infection. If I was you, I'd be pretty angry about that. Your generation faces an unknown future. You don't know how long your immunity will or has lasted, you don't know if future boosters will be safe or effective. Your children are left unprotected while they are most vulnerable. And remember, that the original model, the original plan for eradicating measles depended on the existence of an older generation that was entirely immune. The plan was for one shot and it's gone scenario. But it didn't work out that way. Whoopsie - they discovered years later a little more about the immune system that they had been manipulating and the global populace whose lives they were recklessly playing with - that vaccine immunity was nothing like natural immunity - that mother nature is not so easily fooled or manipulated. And so now they've made a mess as my generation, the ones with the ironclad natural immunity who could without risk take care of someone with the measles, die off. The moral of the story is not to mess with mother nature when you have no idea of what you're doing. Oh, and Curt, let's not be silly - a cool breeze could unfortunately knock down the malnourished in India and Bangladesh.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6741921
Posted by: Linda1 | November 06, 2015 at 07:41 PM
Linda
know that these figures are baloney
Well I wasn't around when measles was endemic in the US so I wouldn't personally know.
Im inclined to get my information from people who were there and bothered to make note of it and report their findings carefully for the benefit of others.
For example:
Litvak AM, Sands IJ, Gibel H. Encephalitis complicating measles: report of 56 cases with follow-up studies in 32. Am J Dis Child
1943;65:265–95
or more recently:
http://www.indianpediatrics.net/jan2009/72.pdf
I know that you believe that measles is a benign illness. And for most cases, you are correct, but the fact is, that in rare cases, measles can cause serious complications, even death. What I'm trying to point out is that your personal experience was fairly limited, and uncommon complications were not likely to come to your attention.
Why don't you look up a doctor who has spent time in an Indian or Bangladesh children's hospital? Ask them if they view measles as benign. I would value their viewpoint.
Curt
Posted by: Curt | November 06, 2015 at 03:43 PM
Curt,
Those of us that grew up in the prevaccine era in highly populated areas know that these figures are baloney, just like today's flu measles mortality rates are complete nonsense.
Posted by: Linda1 | November 06, 2015 at 01:59 PM
LindaL
Sure. The figure is from a Medscape review on ADEM here:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1147044-overview
Look in the "Presentation" section.
Here is a textbook that cites an incidence of ADEM 1 per 1000 cases of measles. Unfortunatly, the full article is behind a paywall:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444534880000274
I'm not surprised you personally were not aware of a complication of measles that occurs in only one out of 800 cases. How many kids did you know well? A couple of dozen? A hundred? Odds are none of them had this complication. Just because you haven't run into this problem doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Have you ever personally seen a plane crash? Does that mean that planes don't crash?
Curt
Posted by: Curt | November 06, 2015 at 11:08 AM
This is LindaL.
To clarify my conversation with my doctor, he did not pressure me to get a flu shot but, in a discussion which I initiated,he indicated that in the forseeable future I may not be able to remain in his practice or continue to get medical insurance unless I receive a flu shot ( and possibly other vaccines recommended for adults). Not just me, all patients. He does not agree with that practice, but he may have no choice but to follow it.
Posted by: LindaL | November 05, 2015 at 07:38 AM
Turns out that Measles can lead to a particularly severe case of ADEM in about 1 out of every 800 cases.
**********
I grew up in an era where pretty much EVERYONE contracted measles. Yet I'm not aware of even a single person who experienced anything more than a benign illness. OR, who's experience led to the devlopment of ADEM.
Can you verify that claim of 1 in 800? And by verify, I don't mean show me where you got it.
Posted by: Barry | November 05, 2015 at 06:44 AM
Ms. Dachel,
There is an inaccuracy in your article. Acute disseminated encephalitis (ADEM) and Guillain-Barre are not the same thing, although both are believed to have an autoimmune etiology.
It may be of interest to your readers that the incidence of severe ADEM decreased sharply after the introduction of the Measles vaccine. Turns out that Measles can lead to a particularly severe case of ADEM in about 1 out of every 800 cases.
Posted by: Curt Watkins | November 04, 2015 at 06:36 PM
I gathered signatures to put vaccine choice on the ballot here in California and overturn SB277. I just learned that the whole effort is failed, finished, gone, kaput. We had enough signatures to qualify to put it on the ballot but now we do not! In each box of the sheets of signatures there are 15,000-20,000 signatures. Eighteen of the boxes went MISSING! With that strike against the people it will not pass. Who was paid off to make off with them? How much did you pay, big Pharma? How blatant is this corruption!!! It is now official that our votes do not count. It is time for civil disobedience as the rule of law is dead. We will not comply. We will not submit. This is blatant tyranny. We won't take your vaccines. This is war. We will take it to you if necessary. --brad
Posted by: Tribulusterrestris | November 03, 2015 at 11:24 PM
Just want to say that there is a LindaL and a Linda1 (me) here. I think some are getting us mixed up (I can't imagine why).
Put on your glasses, folks!
:o)
Posted by: Linda1 | November 03, 2015 at 06:37 PM
He also told me that there will come a time in the future where I may not be able to say no to the flu shot
******************
I disagree with him on that one. And there aint a nerdy doctor big enough to change my opinion on that.
Either way, that might end up being a bigger issue for him and his colleagues, than it is for most of the rest of the world.
Since according to Mike Adams, sixty percent of doctors refuse to get flu vaccines themselves
http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000597_flu_shots_medical_myths_doctors.html
Posted by: Barry | November 03, 2015 at 04:57 PM
Linda1, I would can that doctor pronto. There are many who are not so pushy with them or obnoxious enough to half threaten you about it.
Posted by: jen | November 03, 2015 at 03:26 PM
I think it is possibly true that we may not be able to predict with exactness which particular people will be injured by the flu shot (maybe everyone to at least a small degree), but I do think we can predict certain groups that may be at greater risk. Maybe the good that could come from this little girl's injury is that we might push for better diagnosis of those at greatest risk. Our science of the neuro-immune-endocrine systems is advancing such that the vaccine program should no longer be allowed to claim that injury is totally unpredictable. If we say a person who previously suffered from Guillain Barre Syndrome should not get the flu shot, how is it possible to say that a child with a similar immune system profile should be required to get the flu shot. The idea that there is absolutely no ability to predict injury is a lie, and I think the general public might want to hear ways to diminish the chances that their seemingly healthy child will suffer like Carla's child did. Maybe we should also consider looking at kids with thyroid, cortisol, or other hormone abnormalities as high risk groups. When the HPA axis is not functioning appropriately, the immune system is sure to suffer soon.
Posted by: Betty Bona | November 03, 2015 at 03:16 PM
I had an adult friend who came down with Guillain Barre Syndrome after a flu shot timed closely with outpatient knee surgery. The doctors blamed it on the knee surgery, but they did tell her to avoid flu shots for the rest of her life. I researched it and was shocked to learn that the immune profile of a Guillain Barre patient looks very similar to my son's profile at the time. He had anti-myelin basic protein antibodies and other antinuclear antibodies and he had a completely whacked out immunoglobulin profile - maybe no secretory IgA - but I don't really remember. Except for his symptoms of autism (which were on the mild end and which so many said were not medical at the time), my son was also a running, playing boy. I actually have all those same beautiful pictures of my son. I think one could argue that my son was at increased risk for a very bad reaction from the flu shot, and I'll bet this little girl had an abnormal immune system profile before the flu shot as well. We just don't know because no one checked. My son never got any flu shots, except the one he got when I was pregnant. He qualified for and received IVIg, which is also an accepted treatment for Guillain Barre Syndrome.
I never would have tested my son's immune system if he had not displayed symptoms of autism, and many people don't even when their child has symptoms of autism. It's hard to find a willing doctor and get the insurance companies to pay. How many children out there could be tested and present just like my son did? It's common knowledge that girls with Aspergers frequently go undiagnosed until later in life, so why would any of them get testing. But I think we have enough research on the immune profiles of kids on the spectrum to see the similarities between the immune abnormalities of Guillain Barre patients and our kids. In the face of mandatory flu shots, and with the current news of this beautiful little ten year old, could we argue that the State must pay for immune system testing if they want to force flu shots? I think we are on the cusp of being able to predict who will react badly to vaccines when they are given later in life (after the immune system has already been damaged by previous vaccines and/or toxins and lack of microbiome, etc.). It seems clear to me that anyone who already has the immune profile of a person with Guillain Barre syndrome should avoid flu shots. How will we know who has that profile unless we test? To me it's clear that there is an obvious group of people who qualify for a medical exemption that we won't be able to identify without testing.
Don't get me wrong. I would still refuse a mandatory flu shot and deal with the consequences even if testing showed a healthy system. But I think this case makes people want to know how they can be sure their child is not one who will react badly to the flu shot, and I think we could make inroads on the idea that the shots are not connected to bad outcomes and even when they are, we can't predict in advance. Maybe injuries like this are not unavoidable collateral damage. Maybe we can predict at least the potential for this type of damage.
I sure hope this little girl is getting the best medical treatment. It's so sad, and it could have been avoided.
Posted by: Betty Bona | November 03, 2015 at 12:15 PM
Linda1, in Canada we can definitely say no to flu vaccine. My mother's pharmacists all agree that she shouldn't and she just doesn't care what the doctor thinks. My dad won't get them either, now.
Posted by: jen | November 03, 2015 at 10:45 AM
I had my annual physical today. Of course the doctor recommended the flu shot. I declined and he told me the only people who have any sort of a reason to deny the flu shot ( for medical reasons or otherwise) are those who have already had Guillain Barre Syndrome. It is a contraindication. I tried to tell him that the flu shot causes Guillain Barre Syndrome, but he did not want unsolicited advice from someone without a medical degree.He also told me that there will come a time in the future where I may not be able to say no to the flu shot (unless of course, I have had Guillain Barre Syndrome).
Posted by: LindaL | November 03, 2015 at 09:50 AM
Those with ADEM following vaccines must be getting compensated, and a portion of that money must go to attorneys. According to this ad..http://www.mctlawyers.com/vaccine-injury/acute-disseminated-encephalomyelitis-adem/
Posted by: barbaraj | November 03, 2015 at 01:03 AM
The reporter asks the mother, "Are you now against the flu shot?" and she says, "No.."
WHAT? By the way the interview was conducted, I think those two reporters are against the flu shot. They looked appropriately horrified.
CBS, now Fox. Could the media be pushing back?
Posted by: Linda1 | November 02, 2015 at 11:03 PM
Poor girl, I hope she recovers well. My grandmother had GB from her flu vaccine. Of course now they say it's just coincidence, she would have got GB anyway.
Posted by: jen | November 02, 2015 at 06:37 PM