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seizures and the flu shot

Wed, 10/13/2010 - 18:10

Hi! 

My name is Sharon and my 9 year old is in the process of being diagnosed with epilepsy.  As a matter of fact, we go this Friday to find out the results of her prolonged video EEG....during which she did have another seizure. 

Anyway, she is due to have a flu shot at her pediatrician's office next week and I was wondering if she can still get it.  The reason I'm asking is when I went to get my flu shot last week, they asked if I had seizures.  Is there something in the flu shot that could possiblt trigger a seizure?

I will, of course, be asking her neurologist Friday about this, but I was curious if anyone knew anything about this.

Thank you for any info you may have!

Sharon

Comments

Re: seizures and the flu shot

Submitted by Chad0099 on Wed, 2010-10-13 - 20:12
Hi,  I'm 32 and have seizures, and just got the flu shot two weeks ago for the first time. nothing happen but as young as she is, that is a good question.

Re: seizures and the flu shot

Submitted by phylisfjohnson on Fri, 2010-10-15 - 14:35

MONDAY, Sept. 20 (HealthDay News) “Children made ill by the 2009 pandemic H1N1 swine flu virus suffered more seizures and other nervous system problems than those with seasonal flu, a new report reveals.

In the study, published in the September issue of the journal Annals of Neurology, researchers compared neurological complications in 303 children (younger than 19 years) who were hospitalized with H1N1 and 234 children hospitalized with seasonal flu.

Among the 303 youngsters with H1N1, 18 children — most of whom had underlying nerve-related conditions — experienced neurological complications. The most common neurologic symptoms were seizures (67 percent) and encephalopathy (50 percent), a brain disorder that can range from mild to serious and potentially fatal.

More than half of the children with seizures arrived at the hospital in a life-threatening state called status epilepticus, where seizure activity occurs continuously for more than five to 30 minutes, the University of Utah researchers explained.

Among the 234 children with seasonal flu, 16 experienced neurological complications, although the study authors noted that none had encephalopathy.

The children with H1N1 (also known as swine flu) were hospitalized between April 1, 2009 and Nov. 30, 2009, and the children with seasonal flu were hospitalized between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2008.

‘We found that more pediatric H1N1 patients had neurological deficits and required ongoing treatment with anti-epileptic medications upon discharge from the hospital,’ study author Dr. Josh Bonkowsky noted in a news release from the journal’s publisher.”

For More Information: go to The U.S. National Library of Medicine. children and H1N1 swine flu     Phylis Feiner Johnson    www.epilepsytalk.com

 

MONDAY, Sept. 20 (HealthDay News) “Children made ill by the 2009 pandemic H1N1 swine flu virus suffered more seizures and other nervous system problems than those with seasonal flu, a new report reveals.

In the study, published in the September issue of the journal Annals of Neurology, researchers compared neurological complications in 303 children (younger than 19 years) who were hospitalized with H1N1 and 234 children hospitalized with seasonal flu.

Among the 303 youngsters with H1N1, 18 children — most of whom had underlying nerve-related conditions — experienced neurological complications. The most common neurologic symptoms were seizures (67 percent) and encephalopathy (50 percent), a brain disorder that can range from mild to serious and potentially fatal.

More than half of the children with seizures arrived at the hospital in a life-threatening state called status epilepticus, where seizure activity occurs continuously for more than five to 30 minutes, the University of Utah researchers explained.

Among the 234 children with seasonal flu, 16 experienced neurological complications, although the study authors noted that none had encephalopathy.

The children with H1N1 (also known as swine flu) were hospitalized between April 1, 2009 and Nov. 30, 2009, and the children with seasonal flu were hospitalized between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2008.

‘We found that more pediatric H1N1 patients had neurological deficits and required ongoing treatment with anti-epileptic medications upon discharge from the hospital,’ study author Dr. Josh Bonkowsky noted in a news release from the journal’s publisher.”

For More Information: go to The U.S. National Library of Medicine. children and H1N1 swine flu     Phylis Feiner Johnson    www.epilepsytalk.com

 

Re: seizures and the flu shot

Submitted by Terribee on Mon, 2010-10-18 - 20:25

Hi Phylis:

Thanks for the info!:) I was wondering if you knew whether or not the side effects of the vaccine induced the seizure activity or just those who were not vaccinated? 

Your info piqued my curiousity--were the side effects the same globally? I found an interesting article on thevaccinesideeffects.com regarding H1N1 and adverse side effects of the vaccine on a global scale.  I don't know the exact link--you'd just have to search the website for it.

Take care,

Teresa

Hi Phylis:

Thanks for the info!:) I was wondering if you knew whether or not the side effects of the vaccine induced the seizure activity or just those who were not vaccinated? 

Your info piqued my curiousity--were the side effects the same globally? I found an interesting article on thevaccinesideeffects.com regarding H1N1 and adverse side effects of the vaccine on a global scale.  I don't know the exact link--you'd just have to search the website for it.

Take care,

Teresa

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