Virginia Family Claims H1N1 Vaccine Sickened Son

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. �  A northern Virginia family says their lives were turned upside down just 24 hours after getting their 14-year-old son received his seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines.
Jordan McFarland is an avid young athlete who was unable to walk without the aid of a walker just one day after getting his flu shots. His father Calvin says doctors made a preliminary diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disease characterized by muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.
About 1 in 1 million people who receive seasonal flu vaccines will be infected with GBS, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC adds that GBS is a condition that strikes people who have never received a flu vaccine. 
The Alexandria, Va. teen had both a seasonal flu vaccine and an H1N1 shot a week ago, but his dad believes the illness is linked to the H1N1 flu shot. He says Jordan had regular flu shots four times before without a problem.
The CDC tells FOX 5 it is investigating five cases of reported Guillain-Barre Syndrome after patients had a swine flu shot. One of those cases is a 14-year-old in Virginia.

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wasi siddiqui Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 22 April 2005 Location: Angola Status: Offline Points: 327	Post Options Post Reply Quote wasi siddiqui Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Virginia Family Claims H1N1 Vaccine Sickened Son Posted: 13 November 2009 at 11:55am
	ALEXANDRIA, Va. � A northern Virginia family says their lives were turned upside down just 24 hours after getting their 14-year-old son received his seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines. Jordan McFarland is an avid young athlete who was unable to walk without the aid of a walker just one day after getting his flu shots. His father Calvin says doctors made a preliminary diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disease characterized by muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. About 1 in 1 million people who receive seasonal flu vaccines will be infected with GBS, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC adds that GBS is a condition that strikes people who have never received a flu vaccine. The Alexandria, Va. teen had both a seasonal flu vaccine and an H1N1 shot a week ago, but his dad believes the illness is linked to the H1N1 flu shot. He says Jordan had regular flu shots four times before without a problem. The CDC tells FOX 5 it is investigating five cases of reported Guillain-Barre Syndrome after patients had a swine flu shot. One of those cases is a 14-year-old in Virginia.

martha Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 30 October 2007 Status: Offline Points: 1140	Post Options Post Reply Quote martha Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 November 2009 at 11:59am
	Oh this is sad:( But is it usual in the US for a normal healthy 14yr old to have regular flu shots?
	some of us are a lot like cement:- all mixed up and permanently set

Hayfa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Female Joined: 07 June 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2368	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hayfa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14 November 2009 at 3:59am
	Hi Martha, The reason he may have is that H1N1 prefers a healthy host- more to live off of maybe? I saw a case of a "healthy" young man who got H1N1 who ended in a coma due to the flu. Not sure if he died. His entire football team got sick. So.. You have 1/2 the people who want the govt to give them a vaccine and 1/2 who don't.. what does anyone do??? Nothing is sure fireproof.
	When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. Rumi

wasi siddiqui Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 22 April 2005 Location: Angola Status: Offline Points: 327	Post Options Post Reply Quote wasi siddiqui Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 November 2009 at 1:46pm
	Batch of H1N1 vaccine recalled for severe reactions : OTTAWA � A batch of swine flu vaccine is being pulled back for investigation after it appeared to cause higher rates of severe allergic reactions than other lots. GlaxoSmithKline Inc., which is producing the Canadian order of H1N1 influenza vaccine at its plant in Ste-Foy, Que., said it asked provincial and territorial health authorities Wednesday to stop using doses from a specific lot shipment distributed late last month. "(GlaxoSmithKline) is taking this cautionary action because (the Public Health Agency of Canada) has received a higher than expected number of reports of anaphylaxis in this lot number compared to other lots," company spokeswoman Megan Spoore said in a statement. "On an ongoing basis (GlaxoSmithKline) is working with Health Canada to ensure that each vaccine lot released to the provinces and territories consistently meets quality and safety standards." The batch under investigation by the federal government and GlaxoSmithKline bears the lot number A80CA007A brand name Arepanrix, which is the version that contains adjuvant, a chemical additive that stretches supply and boosts immunity. Manitoba health officials say they have noticed severe allergic reactions from the batch in question at a rate of one in 20,000, which is much higher than the normal rate of one in 100,000. A spokesman for the Ontario health ministry said 1,500 doses of this vaccine were distributed to Ontario and sent to two public health units: Perth Health Unit and Renfrew Health Unit. "This vaccine was not administered to any persons and is being withheld until the analysis is complete," David Jensen wrote in an email Friday. Meanwhile, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced during Question Period in the House of Commons Friday that provinces and territories can expect to receive 4.8 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine by the end of next week. Ontario is expected to receive 1.86 million of those doses. That would bring the total number of doses shipped across the country by Nov. 29 to 15.3 million. The Public Health Agency of Canada has released its first weekly surveillance report for the H1N1 influenza pandemic vaccine since the immunization campaign began three weeks ago and the data show that from Oct. 21 to Nov. 7 � when 6.6 million doses had been shipped across the country � only 36 people experienced serious adverse events including life-threatening allergic reactions called anaphylaxis and febrile convulsions brought on by high fever. That number includes one death from anaphylaxis that is currently being investigated and which a spokeswoman for the Quebec health ministry has confirmed was an octogenarian who died in that province two weeks ago. "With any vaccination campaign, we expect to see some cases of serious adverse events," Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, said at a news conference Tuesday. "They are very rare, but they are part of all mass vaccination campaigns and we expect to see a small number of them." The rate of serious adverse events is so far 0.54 per 100,000 doses distributed, which Butler-Jones noted is less than what is generally expected for the seasonal flu vaccine. An additional 598 milder adverse reactions were reported during the same time period. The majority of those involved nausea, dizziness, headache, fever, vomiting and swelling or soreness at the site of the injection. There were also several reports of allergic reactions with a range of symptoms, from hives and skin rashes to tingling lips or tongue and difficulty breathing. Most of those occurred within minutes after people received their shot in the arm and staff at the flu clinics treated them right away.