GlaxoSmithKline H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine Recall Due to “Unusual Severe Reactions” in Canada

Virginia Teen Develops Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a Potentially Life-Threatening Muscle Disorder, “Within Hours” After Receiving H1N1 Vaccine

1976 Deja Vu and the CDC: “No “Clear Link Between Six Guillain-Barre Cases and H1N1 Vaccine”

According to the Sydney Morning Herald the World Health Organization, WHO, is looking into reported “unusual” severe reactions to GlaxoSmithKline H1N1 vaccines in Canada. And, that the Canadian government is “looking into” the matter while GlaxoSmithKline has recalled a “batch” of the vaccine.

WHO reported “fatalities made up a minute fraction of at least 65 million doses of swine flu vaccines which have been administered”, citing data from 16 countries.

-For every 10,000 doses of vaccines administered, only one report of adverse effect had been logged.

-Of every 100 reports of adverse effects, five are serious cases such as death.

The U.K. based GlaxoSmithKline recalled a batch of 170,000 swine flu injectable vaccines after six reports of serious allergic reactions among recipients in Canada. According to the Globe and Mail, the six suffered severe allergic reactions or anaphylaxis:

“There were reports that one batch of vaccine, distributed over the week of November 2, caused more allergic reactions than normal. Six people had suffered from a severe allergic reaction in a batch that contained 172,000 doses, said Tim Vail, spokesman for the health minister. Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that can be characterized by respiratory distress, swelling of the lips, eyelids, throat or tongue, and low blood pressure, among other symptoms. All six Canadians have fully recovered.”

From ABC News:

“GlaxoSmithKline is only investigating the one batch of its swine flu vaccine in Canada. White said no other doses of its swine flu vaccine around the world are affected.”

On October 21, FOX 12 Oregon reported a story on a woman in Oregon who suffered a severe reaction to the H1N1 mist. The severe reaction: “anaphylactic shock” which occurred “just minutes” after the woman received an H1N1 vaccine mist. The woman spent 5 days in two separate hospitals for treatment while her reaction “surprised some doctors”. The woman reported that, prior to the H1N1 vaccine mist, she had never had a reaction to common flu vaccines or, had an allergic reaction to eggs which are both “common” questions asked patients prior to receiving the H1N1 flu vaccine.

On October 2, Huffington Post reported 600,000 doses of H1N1 nasal vaccine Flumist would be divided among “21 states and four large cities by Tuesday, with more small shipments to more states later in the week”. One of the states was Oregon:

“We’re moving this out as quickly as we can,” said Oregon’s public health director, Dr. Mel Kohn, who hopes shipments arrive in time to begin some vaccinations on Monday. “This doesn’t do any good sitting in a warehouse.”

FluMist® is made by MedImmune, LLC, which is located in Gaithersburg, MD.

The GlaxoSmithKline H1N1 injectable vaccine is marketed under the name Pandemrix™.

On November 2, MSNBC reported where “within” hours a Virginia teen had developed symptoms of Guillain–Barré syndrome syndrome after receiving an H1N1 vaccine.

Jordan McFarland, a high school athlete from Alexandria, Va., left Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children Tuesday night in a wheelchair nearly a week after developing severe headaches, muscle spasms and weakness in his legs following a swine flu shot. He will likely need the assistance of a walker for four to six weeks, plus extensive physical therapy.

“The doctor said I’ll recover fully, but it’s going to take some time,” the teenager said.

According to MSBC, Jordan’s case is the sixth reported case of the development of the potentially life-threatening muscle disorder after receiving the H1N1 vaccine. Even so, Dr. Claudia J. Vellozzi, deputy director for immunization safety at the Centers for Disease Control, stated that the number of Guillain–Barré syndrome cases were “much less” than the CDC had “expected”. And, that it’s a “far lower rate” than the “1 case that develops in every 1 million people who receive the regular flu vaccine”.

Even though the CDC has confirmed that in 1976, 1 additional case of GBS developed in every 100,000 people who were vaccinated against the swine flu, they’re pulling the same stunt as they did in ‘76″, the “there’s no clear link” meme:

But Vellozzi said there’s no clear link between the new vaccine and the disease.

“We know that GBS and other illnesses occur routinely in the U.S.,” Vellozzi said, noting that 80 to 120 cases are diagnosed each week in the general population.

“There are events that follow vaccination. That’s what they are, they happened to follow vaccination.

In 1976 it took ten weeks before the CDC halted swine flu vaccines after more than 500 people developed the rare neurological condition which caused temporary paralysis and which can be fatal. There were 25 deaths while the director of the CDC, Dr. David J. Sencer, was later fired. Ironically, the fears that the flu would cause another Spanish Flu pandemic never occurred with far less, 200 infected, than the more than 500 who developed Guillain–Barré.

“If we had that knowledge then, we might have done things differently,” Sencer said. “We did not know what sort of virus we were dealing with in those days. No one knew we would have Guillain-Barre syndrome. The flu vaccine had been used for many years without that happening.”

While the current CDC administration won’t link the current cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome to the H1N1 vaccines, after the 1976 swine flu vaccine debacle, the federal government paid “millions” in damages to victims or their families.

By LBG

Source – LA Times - Swine flu ‘debacle’ of 1976 is recalled