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Brain death was caused by A(H1N1)
...later tests showed that the cause of her brain death was encephalitis triggered by the flu infection.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2909825
adding an important note... the above media story speaks of someone who got H1N1... NOT someone who was reacting to the vaccine.
Asthma Pneumonia Measles Surgery Bronchitis Allergies Encephalitis Fever
That does it! I haven't had a flu shot since I had encephalitis in 1995. I will be having surgery next month and I'm sure the doctors will want me to have had this one; I am printing this out and bringing it to them to show them why I do not want to get it again, especially this year. Thanks for finding this, Wendy.
Ingrid
I don't plan on ever having a flu shot and this is part of why. My day time care giver has been sick 1 time since I met her and it was right after the flu shot. I just refuse the shot because my immune system is already busy I don't need to add to it.
Michelle
OK.. I'm confused...
"The article did not say she had gotten the flu shot. The E was from the flu infection:
"But later tests showed that the cause of her brain death was encephalitis triggered by the flu infection. "
I don't read anywhere that it was the shot that cause her E.
I have taken the flu shot every year since getting down here .. for 4 years .. I'm post E almost 7 years now. I have never had any trouble.
So I'm confused -- was it the flu infection (virus) or the flu shot (preventative)???
Blessings,
Lil
It was the flu itself, not the shot. I get a flu shot every year, and haven't had the flu for decades. But I remember it very well, especially the Hong Kong flu in 1968 when I had twins infants.
My E came from the varicella virus. All of us had E as the result of some virus or other. This new flu, since most people have no immunity to it whatsoever, and it's virulent, can probably cross the blood/brain barrier more easily than ordinary flu. Draw your own conclusions. I'm getting both shots.
Is there a shot for H1N1? I thought that was still in development. But once it has been tested & proven safe for the masses, I plan to get that as well as the annual vaccination for the regular flu. Flu shots have been a godsend for me... used to get severe respiratory illnesses (bronchitis/pneumonia, which triggered asthma) every year until I started getting a flu shot in the fall.
Mark
Tens of thousands of people die from the flu each year.
I'm sure that in thousands of those deaths, the virus has gotten to the brain.
One of the "complications of pneumonia" is when the bacteria makes its way to the brain, just as that dannon guy about that one.
The shot won't be available for another month or two --- depending on where you are, and of course, who you are.
Since my encephalitis, which started with the flu, I get the flu shot every year!
(to save anybody the extra posts)
It was:
Flu > Bacterial Pneumonia > Sepsis > Encephalitis
Possibly:
Flu > Bronchitis > Bacterial Pneumonia > Sepsis > Encephalitis
I've never always struggled with the short way to explain how Joey ended up with encephalitis, but your explaination works.
Ruptured Appendix/Perforated Colon > Peritonitis > Sepsis > Encephalitis
Now what was so hard about that? DUH......
Vicky
Caregiver
Headline: Girl dies of H1N1 encephalitis
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=286403
Fear...
Will not have the flu shot here....
After listening to those of you who have had the flu shots every year since E without ill effects. And after having had that very bad respitory infection earlier this year, maybe I should get that shot since the H1N1 (Swine Flu) attacks the lungs. Something to think harder about. I'll talk to my primary about it.
Thanks everyone for your input.
~hen
Looks to me like Encephalitis will be getting a lot more attention due to the H1N1 virus. This is a very sad way to draw attention to it but it is attention all the same. My heart goes out to all the families who are being effected by this horrible virus.
Hobo does get a flu shot every year and it does seem to protect him. Three years ago he did not get his flu shot and had pneumonia that almost took his life. It was during a ice storm here in Missouri and we was wihout power for 11 days and I could not give him breathing treatments because of no power. Luckily, a friend of ours brought us a convertor that you can hook to a car battery and convert the energy to a plug. This was three days before we got our power back and this probably saved Hobo as I could give him treatment then. I have since bought on of those convertors just in case.
He will be getting his flu shot this year and hopefully the H1N1 shot too. I don't think is immune system could stand up to that virus if he was to get the H1N1 flu.
Just my opinion...
Hoboswife-Kim
We have a few cases of the N1 virus around here so I'm staying away from people and keeping my antiseptic wash near me. Even in my own house I use that all the time. I just don't want to get another virus shot, but I think that it's fine for most people. Few people get the flu from the flu shots. I'm just one that does.
Michelle
well Hen,
You know, I think you know, you have a history of going in to hysterics sometimes when given medications.
So, if you are going to get the flu shot -- something hundreds of millions of us do every year, I suggest, with all due respect, that you coordinate the event with your psychiatrist.
If you think there are possible effects of taking something like a flu shot, history here with us has pretty-much demonstrated that you may very well believe you experience the published negative effects.
This would be an excellent time for you to work with your psychiatrist. "Hey - could be a problem coming up, get ready to be by my side and perhaps help me get rid of this problem"
Of course, first you have to make absolutely sure that the things about the flu shot that could effect you for real, don't apply to you.
Some of those things would be allergies to to eggs or health problems you have already.
We know you pretty good Hen.
This is one of those things where your psychiatrist should be involved.
I will tell you -- since taking the flu shots (about ten years now) I've had maybe three or four colds. Otherwise no illnesses whatsoever.
Of course, I no longer spend my days in corporate settings surrounded by coworkers telling me about how they were up all night with one of the kids who was sick, only to see them sick a day or two later only to find myself ill a day or two after that.
Plus, I wash my hands upon returning home like clockwork.
I say - if you have no medical reasons not to get the shot, and - you spend a lot of time in a clinic or hospital (like I do) get the shot
-danon
Michelle you can NOT get the flu from the flu vacine because they use Dead viruses. Some people do experience fever but that is only a rection of the immune system the virus is already dead.
Some vacinations like measles have to use weakened viruses and you can get a mild illness from that. From measles the chances of gettin E are 1 in a 1000 with a death rate of 15-25% from the measles vacination E ocurrs in 1 in a million and it is much milder with no deaths.
I started getting the flu shot every year for the past 5 years and it has been a godsend. Prior to then I used to get sick every december/january with the worst cold of my life. I was out for the count for a couple of months. I have had two colds in the past 18 months and they have been mild. I had gone 3 years with no illness since I started getting the flu shot while being exposed to family members who were sick with the flu.
Curly, I never got the flu since E except the 1 time I got the shot. After I got that shot I refused it only to not have a problem. I didn't even get it living at the assisted living or when I went to the school last year.
When I got the shot I got a big raised bump that still hurts sometimes. I just don't like the risk since my current doctor can't figure out what the bump is from. I'm not going to school until after flu season especially since there is a breakout of H1N1 here.
Michelle
Michelle
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