[Fox News DC Reports:] WASHINGTON, D.C. – An Ashburn, Virginia woman is in the fight of her life after suffering a very rare side effect to the seasonal flu shot.
The vast majority of doctors say flu shots are safe. In this case, the FDA says they found nothing wrong with this particular batch, but sometimes there are complications.
That’s apparently what happened to Desiree Jennings, and now her life will never be the same.
At 26 years old, Desiree Jennings was the picture of health. Her life changed forever on August 23 when she says she got a seasonal flu shot at a local grocery store.
Ten days after receiving the shot, she came down with the flu. After that, her health spiraled downwards. She started passing out and had to be hospitalized twice.
“We went to an urgent care place and they wouldn’t even let her get out of my truck because she was seizing in the back so bad, so they called an ambulance immediately,” says her husband, Brendan Jennings.
Doctors at Fairfax Inova and Johns Hopkins diagnosed her with a rare neurological disorder called dystonia. They think it was caused by a severe reaction to the flu shot.
Desiree now has difficulty speaking, walking, and even eating. During an interview with FOX 5, she had several seizures. The effects are irreversible.
“The symptoms will get worse if I use my voice or walk when the brain signals are misfiring,” says Jennings.
Desiree reported her health problems to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) thinking there might have been something wrong with her vaccine. We also contacted the FDA and we were told they found no problems with the particular lot of flu vaccines that Desiree received, and the agency has not received any other reports of adverse effects from this lot.
Health experts stress that overall, extreme side effects are rare.
“The flu shot is safe for the majority of the public, and as I said before, your heart goes out to someone that experiences this sort of thing– thinking that they are doing something great for their wellness and their general health, but it does happen in extremely rare cases,” says Rachel Lynch with Fairfax Inove Health System.
Desiree has received flu shots before in 2007 and 2008.
(Source: MyFoxDC)
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12 Responses
I wish this person a complete and speedy recovery. Aside from this, the fact that the medical establishment likes to warn people about proper health care, the same establishment has not condemned the fact that mercury is being injected into people when they take a flu shot. Flu shots, sans mercury, are near impossible to obtain. Why? I should buy stock in baloney because everyone is so full of it that it must be a valuable commodity.
So, you think flu shots are safe and effective, do you?
Let’s review the evidence:
1. Almost half of doctors and nurses absolutely refuse to take the shots themselves, and that includes pediatricians, who give these shots to children. That’s why New York State now forces (mandates) “healthcare workers” to take these shots. If they don’t they lose their jobs.
2. Altough deadly poison mercury preservatives has been removed from many vaccinations because of autism and other concerns, flu shots still have them, in the form of Thimerosol.
3. Most researchers in the field consider this HiN1 flu to be benign, and not especially serious. In South America, which has already had its flu season, the whole flu “epidemic” has fizzled into nothing.
4. The Government has specifically exempted all vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits. You got a problem–tough luck. Sue the Government (within only 90 days of the shot, please).
So, why would you put yourself and your children at risk of being paralyzed or sickened when the risk is so small.
Despite the mounting evidence that that the whole thing is one big boondoggle, the Government can’t stop the speeding train now, ther’s too much money and credibility involved.
Ask your doctor: “Should I do as YOU SAY, or should I do as YOU DO?”
Deepthinker- You are sooo right…
I couldn’t have said it any better…
Whoever gives these shots to their child is naive & uneducated… it cost govt. way too much $ money to invest in shots that’s why they’re exerting abnormal amount of pressure on drs. to give these shots…
Be strong & don’t let yourself… get educated…
The flu shot is not recommended for those who have an allergy to eggs. Many do not know that and while they may not go anaphalytic, I wonder if this woman has such an unknown allergy.
#2 – Deepthinker – Your post is an an inaccurate diservice.
Firstly, as to the situation at the center of the post, anecdotal incidents, no matter how horrid, are just that – anecdotal – and no more valid than using the existance of an 85 year old smoker as “proof” that smoking doesn’t kill.
More to the point, I heard radio remarks on Tuesday by a former Assistant Surgeon General; he agrees that for most groups the H1N1 virus “probably” poses no more risk than does seasonal flu – But he posits two important caveats:
1. Seasonal flu kills thousands of people a year, mostly in hi risk groups – a number hugely greater than those who have serious complications from flu vaccines; and
2. When it comes to H1N1, the particular high risk groups for this virus, such as pregnant women, HAVE suffered an alarming number of deaths, and need the vaccine.
Bottom line – he implores people to get the vaccine.
For CDC information, see: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/vaccine_safety_qa.htm
Deepthinker – Can you please provide your source for #1 and #3?
I would caution those who do not have medical backgrounds against giving medical advice.
deepthinker, you seem be be interchanging arguments against the Seasonal Flu vaccine with arguments against the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine. They are not the same, and the article above was not about the H1N1 vaccine. Most of your points pertain to the H1N1 vaccine, so you are either confused, misguided, or have some other agenda. If you are a doctor, please state your real name and credentials.
Otherwise, STOP TALKING. You are telling people to avoid the flu vaccine – this should be a discussion between a person and their doctor.
30,000 people in the USA die each year from the flu. Yes, there are risks with the vaccine as well. I am not a doctor so I will not discuss them. But your “advice” is foolhardy at best and lethal at worst.
Those with medical backgrounds do not necessarily know more about how to prevent disease and stay healthy than those in the alternative health field. A layman can study plenty and garner much medical knowledge and be informed as much as or more than a doctor (who tends to be more narrow minded) about how to stay healthy and prevent disease. I would not voluntarily take any shot, antibiotics or any other medication before doing a lot of research myself on those products. I don’t even take ibuprofen (Motrin) or acetomenephin (Tylenol)or aspirin, because of the side affects.Boruch Hashem I have avoided going to doctors for many many years (except for naturopaths, chiropractors, homeopaths etc.)
I am very suspicious about this flu shot. There was a report last August that approx. 25 people have died after they received the flu shot. They were diagnosed with a nerological disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome. Check out the following link before you make a decision:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206807/Swine-flu-jab-link-killer-nerve-disease-Leaked-letter-reveals-concern-neurologists-25-deaths-America.html
8 said …I would caution those who do not have medical backgrounds against giving medical advice.
OK, let us consider the advice by deepthinker to be deep food for thought and not medical advice. I find all of his points fairly valid.
I consider points 1, 2, and 4 valid and I don’t know about point 3 yet but it is possible.
The interesting thing is that the woman that got a neurologic side effect did not get the H1N1 vaccine but a vaccine to the typical flu. These things do happen and those in the know do know that, it is just a statistic but statistics are abberations that ruin peoples lives.
Yonason (#5) is right: one bad reaction is anecdotal, not “proof.” The media will not tell the story of thousands of people who DON’T have a bad reaction and then DON’T get the flu.
As for deepthinker, I respectfully offer the following:
So, you think flu shots are safe and effective, do you?
1. Almost half of doctors and nurses absolutely refuse to take the shots themselves, and that includes pediatricians, who give these shots to children. That’s why New York State now forces (mandates) “healthcare workers” to take these shots. If they don’t they lose their jobs.
>>Even doctors and nurses don’t like getting shots and their yearly rates of vaccination are low. However, they are at a high risk for transmitting flu to their patients. The issue is complex because they are being “forced” to get shots for the sake of others, not themselves.>The thimersoal/autism link has been investigated numerous times and the link has not been established (conspiracy theorists notwithstanding). The level of mercury in any individual shot is exceedingly low and not found to be harmful.>
4. The Government has specifically exempted all vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits. You got a problem–tough luck. Sue the Government (within only 90 days of the shot, please).
>
So, why would you put yourself and your children at risk of being paralyzed or sickened when the risk is so small.
>
Instead of arguing with cospiracy theorists and others who claim the vaccine is hurtful, I look at it as natural selection in progress.
Most of the 30,000 people who die in America from the flu each year could have been prevented. A shot could have saved them…that’s natural selection at work!