GBS a Side Effect of H1N1 Vaccine?

(CBS)  Health officials say they are carefully monitoring the H1N1 vaccine program for any dangerous side effects, including a very rare syndrome known as Guillain-Barre syndrome, also known as GBS.

However, CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton reported GBS has been cropping up this year, possibly in connection with the H1N1 vaccine. She shared the story of one young man who developed GBS, and why his parents think it may be related to the H1N1 vaccine.

Jordan McFarland, an athletic 14-year-old, was weeks ago playing tennis and basketball. Now he needs a walker to move from room to room.

McFarland told CBS News, "It's an aching, but it's also a pain that I can't describe."

Doctors told McFarland's parents he has GBS, a rare illness where the immune system attacks the nervous system. GBS is treatable, Ashton said, but can cause paralysis, and requires months of physical therapy to recover.

Special Report: H1N1 Virus

McFarland's family believes the H1N1 vaccine is to blame, Ashton said. Just one day after he received both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccine, he was hospitalized.

Doctors have not confirmed whether his case is directly linked, but there is a history of GBS being tied to the H1N1 vaccine. During the 1976 swine flu scare, officials vaccinated 45 million people, and of that number, almost 1,100 developed GBS, Ashton said.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institutes of Health, told CBS News, "If you really look at the scientific data, it is unclear why that happened."

Now, 30 years later, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) monitors the current H1N1 vaccine for GBS and other side effects.

No one knows how many vaccines have been given, Ashton said, but the CDC says there have been 2,365 reports of adverse effects. Only 116 were considered serious, meaning life threatening. Ashton said, there are six reported cases of GBS, but officials stress a link between these cases and the vaccine have not been confirmed and are being investigated.

Fauci said, "Clearly the risk of the complication of the disease is greater than the risk of the vaccine."

Ashton added on "The Early Show" that health officials caution that up to 9,000 people get GBS every year, and the chance of getting sick from the flu is higher than the chances of getting GBS from the vaccine.

The risk of getting serious side effects from the vaccine is very, very small, Ashton said.

Ashton said she tells her clients, "'Make those numbers in to a fraction, put the number of doses of the vaccine administered in the bottom or the denominator and put the serious side effects in the top, divide that out,' We're talking 116 life threatening adverse effects, over millions and millions of vaccines. Chances are very small -- but they're not zero."

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's list of H1N1 vaccine reactions

Mild Reactions
Usually begin soon after the shot and last 1-2 days

Where the shot was given
- Soreness
- Redness
- Swelling
- Fainting (mainly adolescents)
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Fever
- Nausea

Severe Reactions
Usually begin within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot/Seek Medical Attention Right Away
Life-threatening allergic reactions
- Difficulty breathing
- Hoarseness or wheezing
- Swelling around the eyes or lips
- Hives
- Paleness
- Weakness
- Fast heart beat
- Dizziness
- Behavior changes
- High fever

[stevador39]

In 1975 when Liar Ford was U.S. president, I refused to take the 'flu shot.' To avoid it, I 'temporarily' joined the Christian Science religion. Public agencies were forcing employees to take this vaccine. There were numerous deaths and that was the first time people heard of Guillain-Barre syndrome.

[rf35]

GBS a Side Effect of H1N1 Vaccine?

No, but CBS might be. Quit publishing factless scare stories. Your journalistic integrity is becoming questionable. With the number of cases of GBS vs. the number of people vaccinated, I could probably create a stronger link between the lung cancer and playing a kazoo as a kid.

[maryeliz1946]

Why doesn't anyone mention the miscarriages which have resulted following many H1N1 vaccinations? There is even a website devoted to this and women have posted their stories. Doctors refuse to consider the connection to the vaccinations, simply saying, "Miscarriages happen all the time." Apparently CDC, state and local health departments are not keeping any data on the miscarriages as a side effect of the vaccinations. This is irresponsible but there is no accountability. Doctors don't care since they have immunity as do the vaccine manufacturers. Feds dont' care-Obama has owned shares of the controversial vaccine maker Baxter since 2005. CBS, thanks for opening the door on H1N1 today--now open it wider please and give us the whole truth.

[physdoc]

As a physician who diagnoses and treats neurological diseases (including GBS) I cannot help but add something here.
GBS is a clinical syndrome with many subtypes, all which have been linked to some form of immunological cross-reaction (due to bacterial or viral infection). If the H1N1 vaccine is in fact the cause of some forms of Guillain-Barre (which I do not doubt) then likely the same immunological reaction would happen in the same individuals when they are invariably exposed to the true H1N1 virus.
Also GBS is an acute process - in other words it happens over a short time, and rarely recurs (called CIDP) (unlike spinal stenosis which can be painful and cause weakness).
I find it very difficult to believe this young man had GBS due to a shot he had the day before, as the body hasn't had the time to build up an adequate immune response to fight of the flu let alone cross react to his own nerve gangliosides.
In short - GBS is not fun to have, but individuals under 18 tend to have a full recovery despite what type they have - so this boy will do well.

[skepticalJM]

Doctor "physdoc" back when I was 14, I was misdiagnosed with Herpes Zoster; I was given a "dead" virus vaccine for Herpes Zoster (the 5 injections were given in my thighs). Six years later I did get Herpes Zoster, in my left thigh. I also believe that this virus is still alive and well within my sacral nerve centers causing me further ailments (all in my left sacral area). The truth is viruses are chemicals, they are not "living" or "dead" per se, but function in connection with the organism they are parasitical to. The introduction of viruses into humans is a risky practice at best, because we can never know the long term effects that this process will entail. Today's medicine establishes cause and effect through the hypothetical criteria of population statistics. If anything, immunologic responses in the human body are individually created and tailored, which means the population causation evidence probably doesn't apply at all. "Modern Medicine" was created by the drug companies, using population statistics, to boost their sales. The result is an over medicated world that looks for all its cures in drugs that have a huge amount of side effects; and a medicine that has a cost so high practically no one can afford it. Another side effect of this kind of medicine is the overuse of Antibiotics, one of the few really effective drugs produced: the result, resistant organisms that are immune to practically all antibiotics, and now even antivirals are becoming neutralized. What I'm saying is that most of this is due to population based medicine. We have to get medicine back on track using methods like the "hard" physical sciences use, not the population statistical methods of the social sciences.

[tehahn1]

Evidently .. (I'm sure) Not many people have had the pleasure of getting GBS. It's not a flu.
And it is believe by many doctors to come from the flu vaccine (which is a shot..NOT a vaccine). For many years, doctors have suspected the flu shot as the GBS culprit.
What's in this flu shot? I don't know. But you'll take is like 'koolaid' won't you.

[sshivers]

Please don't comment on topics you know absolutely nothing about!

[lennypw]

"officials vaccinated 45 million people, and of that number, almost 1,100 developed GBS" This is an absolutely meaningless statement. Out of 45 million people what is the expect number of cases of GBS? Is this a higher number than would normally be? It is my understanding that this is within the number of expected cases in a sampling of this size. All this type of statement does is create fear and uncertainty.

If there is a connection between the vaccine and GBS, the next question is which risk would an individual prefer a 0.0024% risk of getting GBS or dealing with the flu?

[newyorkmom]

most cases of GBS last less than one month..symptoms develop gradually / not immediate onset...this teen had GBS prior to getting the vaccine. If it was one week later..maybe. Sorry, I dont buy it on this one.

[jodielyn]

You have no clue about GBS. Yes, this can be a major side effect from the flu shot. There was a big outbreak of GBS in 1997 from the flu vaccine.
And most cases of GBS do not last less than a month. Most symptoms do not develop gradually. Full paralysis can onset with 24 hours. Do your research before you comment on something so seriously. I am a GBS
survivor. Let's see you comment on this when someone you love comes down with this.

[erasmus111]

by luvireland November 20, 2009 1:37 PM EST
...neurologist diagnosed me with Spinal Stenosis!Aging spine)... He said it was not GBS!!!


So maybe the neurologist was right.

[erasmus111]

"I'd rather get the flu than have this ongoing nasty condition...."


I'm sorry that you are having so many problems, but if you were to get the flu, you could die. If it is GBS, take heart, in most cases it only lasts a few years.

[erasmus111]

My comment above was meant for "luvireland"

by luvireland November 20, 2009 1:37 PM EST
I went and got mine in 2007....


I went back and looked at your comment again. GBS is only associated with the H1N1 vaccine. And that vaccine was only given in 1976 and this year. People do get GBS without a vaccine being the cause.

[erasmus111]

"If it is GBS, take heart, in most cases it only lasts a few years."


What I meant to say was that the worst cases would only last a few years.

[luvireland]

THis hit me out of the blue!! I never had a flu shot before (that I could remember), I never got the flu either...but being over 65 years old, and the news media urging senior citizens to be sure to get their annual flu shot, I went and got mine in 2007....5 days later I had severe pain in my back, weakness in my legs and paralysis of my bladder...I went to doctor next day(walking with crutches) & was admitted to the hospital.....after spinal taps, mris from the neck down, being poked with pins.....neurologist diagnosed me with Spinal Stenosis!Aging spine)... He said it was not GBS!!!
5 months later I had a recurrence....legs completely paralyzed...intense pain, bladder paralysis, numbness in buttocks...I was in hospital 5 days, then "warehoused" to rehab ( no neurological work done there) for 30 days...just had physical therapy...still using walker, legs numb & weak,
indescribable pain...can not resume daily functions...Bummer:(I'd rather get the flu than have this ongoing nasty condition....Drs do not want to definitely confirm it's GB & thats why instances of GBS "officially" are so low....There's a silent majority of us out here suffering, being misdiagnosed.

[jsf14]

But GBS is not associated with the SEASONAL flu vaccine, which is what you got in 2007. When people get a disease, they naturally say, "What happened different right before I got this?" But what they think of is probably not the cause.