Reply To: Another vaccine victim added to the long list

Ranger, numerous studies, some of which are reported in this forum, have failed to find any causal relationship between vaccines of any type, and the influenza vaccines in particular, and GBS or CIDP. Many millions of people receive flu shots each year. If acquired peripheral neuropathies have no connection at all to vaccination, there will nevertheless be some people every year who develop their symptoms a few days to a few weeks after receiving the vaccination. There is no way to tell whether the vaccination actually triggered the disorder. GBS and CIDP tend to start during flu season, so there will naturally be some correlation whether or not there is any causation.

I had a serious case of CIDP although I had never had a flu shot in my life. Since my illness, I now get a flu shot every fall and have had no ill effects from it.

Even if it is possible that a few cases could be triggered by a flu shot, the most important factor is a person’s succeptibility to the disorder, which is not understood by medicaal science.