Re: A SLOW-ONSET TETANUS VACCINE REACTION

From: David Wright (wright_at_clam.prodigy.net)
Date: 11/20/04 

Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 22:35:48 GMT

In article <cnfks2$92h$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
john <nospamoridiots@vaccine.com> wrote:
>MY STORY
>A SLOW-ONSET TETANUS VACCINE REACTION
>AND
>FILING FOR THE
>NATIONAL CHILDHOOD VACCINE COMPENSATION PROGRAM
>
>By Jan DeGrandchamp

There were a couple of items in this little gem that really made me
wonder how the other participants in the story would have described
it. (By the way, let me say at the outset that I do believe in
vaccine reactions to tetanus toxoid, although this one seems to have
come on remarkably fast.)

>During the physical, we revisited the PA's recommendation of a Tetanus
>vaccine and the doctor stated emphatically that I should have one. I
>didn't realize that she was simply selling me a product, very much like
>cosmetics, rather than caring about my health.

Hardly. It's not as though this a vaccine is a profit center.

>She knew that I had a
>recent infection and that my father had passed away two months earlier.
>The possibility that I could be physically susceptible to any toxic
>substance should have been apparent. I had not stepped on a nail, cut
>myself, or done anything to warrant a vaccine.

You don't just get a tentanus booster because you stepped on a nail,
and the odds that the recent infection or her father dying had
anything to do with this is plenty low.

>After the nurse gave me the Tetanus shot, I felt a strange tingling going
>up the side of my neck, the same side as the injection. While making my
>payment, I mentioned the tingling to the receptionist. She did not answer
>me; she just took my money.

What else? Since when is a receptionist a medical professional?

>No one told me anything about vaccine
>reactions or what to do if they happened. I don't remember getting any
>information or signing a release form. If I did, it was a perfunctory task
>without any discussion about what to do if a reaction occurred. No blood
>tests were taken or ordered.

You don't take blood tests for giving someone a tetanus shot.

<snip>

>I called the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and asked them for
>information about vaccine reactions and if they could recommend any
>treatment protocol. They referred me back to my physician and offered no
>assistance. They said that they did not have any information or data on
>vaccine reactions because they do not occur. This was not what I wanted to
>hear!

I have trouble believing this one. It took me about 2 minutes to find
articles about tetanus vaccinations reactions in Medline, and these
were not recent articles.

However, a 1982 article discussed "the 14th known reaction to tetanus
toxoid," so this is obviously extremely rare, though it's quite
serious in the few cases where it does occur..

  -- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net
     These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct.
       "If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants
           were standing on my shoulders." (Hal Abelson, MIT)