A woman paralysed after a flu jab is one of 53 people to get ACC payouts for injuries related to the seasonal flu vaccine in the past four years.
Sxity-two claims were rejected.
The Christchurch woman in her 60s was struck down with the life-threatening condition Guillain-Barre Syndrome, or GBS, after receiving a seasonal flu inoculation.
Within a couple of days, she began suffering neurological symptoms and was admitted to hospital, where she spent three weeks in intensive care.
GBS Society spokesman Tony Pearson said the rare disorder, which affects the central nervous system, causing temporary paralysis and respiratory problems, usually followed a viral or bacterial infection, but in rare cases had been associated with vaccinations. Sometimes weeks could elapse between the “trigger” and the onset of symptoms, which made it difficult to pinpoint the cause. “That’s why it’s hard to prove it to ACC’s satisfaction.”
British health authorities have asked doctors to watch out for symptoms of GBS during the swine flu pandemic and mass vaccination programme.
The British Health Protection Agency said GBS had been identified as a potential adverse event, which would require enhanced surveillance following the introduction of a pandemic vaccine.
A swine flu vaccination programme in the United States in 1976 resulted in multimillion-dollar lawsuits after 500 people one in 80,000 developed GBS.
Twenty-five people died of GBS, while just one person died of swine flu.
Source: stuff.co.nz, 25 August 2009.
