mark probert

For those interested in Real Medical information:

http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=1152

The Dystonia Flu-Shot Case
Published by Steven Novella under Neuroscience, Science and Medicine,

Robert E. Bartholomew is a social scientist who specializes in mass
delusions. He describes them here, in an article he wrote for the
NESS, but also in a longer article here for the Skeptical Inquirer and
in his several books. About mass delusions he writes:

A collective delusion is the term most commonly used by social
scientists to describe the relatively spontaneous spread of false
beliefs that do not occur in an organized, institutionalized or
ritualistic fashion.

Today, we live in a connected virtual community, and YouTube, Twitter,
Facebook, and blogs, in addition to traditional media, are the medium
through which community panic and delusions spread.

At this time there are two slow panics spreading through the community
– fear of the H1N1 “swine” flu pandemic, and fear of the vaccine to
prevent H1N1 flu. Regarding the pandemic itself – this is a real
threat, it is just not known at this time how severe it will turn out
to be. So far it is looking like another seasonal flu in severity, but
with some different features, such as a greater tendency to severely
affect otherwise healthy individuals.

The panic over the vaccine, however, is entirely manufactured,
primarily by dedicated conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccinationists,
and then aided by irresponsible media. There have been two stories in
particular about alleged severe reactions following vaccines recently,
one dealing with the HPV vaccine and the recent cased of what is being
called dystonia following the seasonal flu vaccine. The young girl who
died within hours of getting the HPV vaccine was found to have a heart
defect, and her death had nothing to do with the vaccine, so that
story was rather short-lived.

The new case making the rounds, however, appears to have some legs. It
is getting international news attention, and I am being flooded with e-
mail requests to analyze the case.

This is the story of Desiree Jennings, who is a 28 year old
cheerleader who was apparently healthy until August when she received
the seasonal flu vaccine. Ten days later she developed a severe
respiratory illness, probably the flu, requiring hospitalization. She
then developed an apparent neurological reaction in which she has
difficulty speaking and walking, with involuntary muscle contractions
and contortions. Her symptoms (including speech) are relieved,
however, by walking backwards or by running. She also seems to have
attacks of muscle contortions.

News reports are presenting her story as a rare vaccine reaction. Take
a look at the video of her movements on this news report also.

This case, of course, has been immediately picked up by the anti-
vaccine crowd. Generation Rescue, Jenny McCarthy’s anti-vaccine
organization, wasted no time in exploiting this poor girl for their
own agenda. She is now the latest poster child in the war against
vaccines.

The media is largely covered in fail over their reporting of this
case. They failed to ask basic journalistic questions – was the
illness Jennings suffered from due to the vaccine, was it confirmed
as the flu, and was it the strain from the vaccine, was the incubation
period compatible with a vaccine-induced flu, did she get the live-
virus version of the vaccine, does she really have dystonia, has that
diagnosis been verified, are their other possibilities, and what is
the plausibility that it was caused by the vaccine?

None of these basic questions are addressed in the news reports –
instead we are given an emotional report of a “one in a million” (a
figure apparently pulled out of someone’s butt) vaccine reaction. Her
episodes are called “seizures” when they are almost certainly not
seizures. Her condition has also been called permanent and
irreversible – without any justification.

Normally I try to refrain from making medical diagnoses in public
cases – but Jennings has now inserted herself in to the anti-vaccine
movement, and is using her own case to “warn about the dangers of
vaccines.” To mitigate the damage to public health brought about by
misinformation in this case, I think it is necessary to provide some
expert opinion.

The movements and symptoms that Ms. Jennings displays on the public
videos I have seen (linked to above) are not compatible with the
diagnosis of dystonia, or any other movement disorder. Dystonia is one
type of involuntary contraction of muscles. It can be reduced or
exacerbated by certain movements or positions, and there are “task
specific” dystonia, such as writer’s cramp, that come out only with
certain activity. Jennings does not display the type of movements that
are consistent with dystonia. Her speech and movement are, however,
very suggestive of a psychogenic disorder.

This also seems to be the consensus opinion of experts who have viewed
this case. The Dystonia Medical Research Foundation had this to say
about the case:

Because of the concern of individuals with dystonia as to whether or
not to get a flu shot because of this reported case, we have sought
the opinion of dystonia experts on this case. Based on the footage
that has been shared with the public, it is their unanimous consensus
that this case does not appear to be dystonia.

The one news report that I saw that actually consulted an expert for
their opinion was Fox News. Leigh Vinocur, and emergency room
physician, was interviewed and relayed the opinion that the
neurologists she consulted were of the opinion that Jennings’ symptoms
were consistent with a psychogenic disorder. In other words – her
symptoms are not neurological, they are psychological. This does not
mean she has any insight or voluntary control over her symptoms – they
are involuntary and “real” – just not neurological in origin. Symptoms
such as this are not uncommon reactions to emotional stress in some
individuals. Given the evidence presented, I think this is a
reasonable opinion.

Dr. Vinocur also points out that there are no reported cases of true
dystonia resulting from the flu vaccine – this is not a known or
established vaccine reaction.

Here is another interview on Fox with a movement disorder specialist,
Dr. Stephen Grill, who concurs that (based upon the video, and not
personal examination) Ms. Jennings does not have true dystonia but
psychogenic dystonia.

It is therefore highly unlikely that whatever Jennings is suffering
from now had anything to do with the flu vaccine she received in
August. Unfortunately, this is not stopping irresponsible news
coverage or exploitation by anti-vaccinationists. Further, Jennings is
now in the hands of the Generation Rescue anti-vaccine quacks. I
predict that they will be able to “cure” her, because psychogenic
disorders can and do spontaneously resolve. They will then claim
victory for their quackery in curing a (non-existent) vaccine injury.

In addition to the public harm, Ms. Jennings herself is likely to be
harmed by the media attention her case is garnering. She likely could
benefit from proper medical attention of her condition. But now she is
publicly invested in her disorder, and is likely to accept care from
those with their own anti-vaccine agenda. It is difficult enough
dealing with psychogenic disorders without international public
attention and controversy.

The medical community is always careful to point out that there are
very rare reactions to vaccines. No one is claiming that they are 100%
safe – no medical intervention is. But severe reactions are very rare.
Meanwhile, about 36,000 people die each year in the US alone from the
seasonal flu. That figure is likely to be higher this year, as
seasonal strains are combined with the H1N1 strain to form a
particularly bad flu season. We are fortunate that there are vaccines
both for the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu, which is particularly well
targeted because we know the strain.

Other measures for minimizing spread of the flu are, as always, also
important – wash your hands, stay home if you are ill, and avoid
contact with those with respiratory symptoms. But the vaccines are
likely to significantly reduce the spread and severity of the flu. And
yet, fear-mongering and misinformation, such as with the Jennings
case, are scaring people away from the vaccines, without good cause.

jan drew

http://www.mixx.com/videos/8726173/y...ne_vaccination

Jerry Emmons Puyallup man paralyzed after routine vaccination http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBcUQXNIMEk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxxYI...eature=related

t

suffer and die from drugs?

mark probert

I did not write what you claimed I did. Thus, you are a liar.

Here is a link to factual information, which is well documented. Not
something from Stoopid's YouBOOB.

mark probert

Mark, why do you want people to


Strawman.

As for suffering, it is obvious that you are projecting your own.

You were born stupid.

Get over it.