Desiree Jennings Life Ruined by FLU SHOT

I am shocked...SHOCKED! that a member of the "all vaccines are evil" group would resort to lies and fraud to try to spread their misinformation.

Oh wait, no I'm not.

"t's like flu has been in our environment long before we are born. then now, we want to prevent it?"

Flu mutates and changes every year. Because of the way we raise animals in close proximity to each other and to us, the virus can get passed back and forth changing each time. The flu might be "natural", but it's constantly changing. It's not the same flu that was going around before you were born.

And just because most years it's not extremely deadly does not mean next year it won't be. 1917 flu outbreak ring any bells? A third of the world's population was infected, and millions died. Would you tell those people that a flu shot wasn't worth it?

Taking the living conditions, from 1917, and those nearly a centuy later into consideration are we?

I thought not?

No. Are YOU forgetting that:

1. there are regions, especially in Asia, where people still live like that, and

2. world travel is much more common now

THOUGHT SO.

It turns ugly when people make statements they either can't back up or are about subjects they don't know anything about.

Our good buddy Dan is in the business of selling "natural" health products, an industry that is constantly at odds with the FDA because they usually do not make any attempts to prove their products work, take positive, illegal actions to circumvent the laws regarding medical claims on the products they sell, and often do so in attempts to deceive the public as to the effectiveness of their products.

As a result, they often make outrageous claims as to FDA's motives, as a way of distracting the public's attention away from their own.

The FDA is a PUBLIC Agency. It is staffed by career federal employees, like me, who are paid by a check from the Treasury Department.

We do NOT make any money from our regulatory activities, except for some user fees that, by law, are plowed back into Agency activities that generated those fees. Not, however, salaries, which are set by Congress, and are paid through Treasury checks from Agency accounts.

So I don't know how we could be "in bed" with companies we regulate, since they are often as much at odds with us as those natural health nuts are, since we often take them to court, and fine them sometimes huge amounts of money and take medications off the market that cost them billions.

Dan is in business for himself, and is using this site and this thread, to feather his own nest by poisoning the well against the regulators, who he opposes FOR HIS OWN AGGRANDIZEMENT.

So take his posts with a grain of salt. A big one...

I guess rwahrens believes if he keeps reposting the same post, over and over again, it will make his tripe true.

Guess what rwahrens, all you are doing with your repeat posts is you are not creative enough to make add new thoughts.

When will you stop trolling this submission, and get on with your business as an employee for the FDA....cough.

If you work for the FDA, why don't you put your full name here for verification?

I repeat my posts, as I have mentioned (and evilsciencechick has also mentioned) because that is the right information, and the Agencies I have cited are the places that have the most reliable information on this subject.

YOU don't, although you repeat the same crap over and over as well. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

The sites you cite are unreliable and/or biased and are from people and organizations with axes to grind. Their information is either wrong or not backed with scientific research, or both.

Yes, I work for the FDA, and my name is my username here. My first name is Robert and I work for FDA at its headquarters in Rockville, MD. I have the courage to show my name in public, but you hide yours behind a fake handle.

That's because MY information is right and I can back it up with authoritative cites.

By the way:

ALL of the posts I have made here are MY opinions, and except where I have cited official web sites containing official information, are not necessarily the opinions of my employer.

I will respond to your post by reposting my response to another poster:

It turns ugly when people make statements they either can't back up or are about subjects they don't know anything about.

Our good buddy Dan is in the business of selling "natural" health products, an industry that is constantly at odds with the FDA because they usually do not make any attempts to prove their products work, take positive, illegal actions to circumvent the laws regarding medical claims on the products they sell, and often do so in attempts to deceive the public as to the effectiveness of their products.

As a result, they often make outrageous claims as to FDA's motives, as a way of distracting the public's attention away from their own.

The FDA is a PUBLIC Agency. It is staffed by career federal employees, like me, who are paid by a check from the Treasury Department.

We do NOT make any money from our regulatory activities, except for some user fees that, by law, are plowed back into Agency activities that generated those fees. Not, however, salaries, which are set by Congress, and are paid through Treasury checks from Agency accounts.

So I don't know how we could be "in bed" with companies we regulate, since they are often as much at odds with us as those natural health nuts are, since we often take them to court, and fine them sometimes huge amounts of money and take medications off the market that cost them billions.

Dan is in business for himself, and is using this site and this thread, to feather his own nest by poisoning the well against the regulators, who he opposes FOR HIS OWN AGGRANDIZEMENT.

So take his posts with a grain of salt. A big one...

OH WOW I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE A PROFESSIONAL - YOU GOT SICK ONCE? WELL IT MUST BE TRUE THEN BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS IF SOMETHING IS TRUE FOR ONE PERSON IT MUST BE TRUE FOR EVERYONE. IT'S HAS TO BE TRUE BECAUSE I READ IT ON THE INTERNET ONCE.

Antibiotics shouldn't be overused, which is true, but vaccines aren't antibiotics.

YES. CAPSLOCK REALLY IS THE BEST WAY TO GET YOUR POINT ACROSS.

I CONCUR

Dan,

First of all, don't use your caps lock. It is considered shouting, and just causes most people to ignore the post, because it is hard to read.

Second, the FDA and CDC have not "fluffed off" this woman's condition. Neither Agency is responsible for responding to one individual's health issues, other than taking any report that may be reported via the various reporting systems set up for that purpose. Her report will be aggregated with others both for statistical purposes, and for the purpose of tracking vaccine lots to ensure that individual lots of vaccine are not causing side affects beyond normal rates or types. (Assuming, of course, that her illness was reported by her doctor to the FDA and/or the CDC.)

Both Agencies are public health agencies, meaning that their efforts are geared towards protecting the health of the GENERAL public. Individual's problems, as indicated in these reports, give, in the aggregate, a way to ensure that the drugs and other medications are performing as indicated. Problems shown by higher than normal rates of side affects CAN and often DO result in fast action by FDA to pull these lots off the market. It happens all the time, and is really rarely reported in the national news.

But that only happens if the illnesses reported are indicated to be as a result of the vaccine, and as noted on the sites I have linked to above, not all such reports are a result of interactions with the vaccine. It is, in fact, very hard for doctors, in individual cases, to link an illness with a drug or vaccine taken prior to the onset of a medical abnormality. Just because a medication or vaccine is taken before, and within a couple of weeks or months of that onset does NOT prove it was caused by that medication or vaccine. Other conditions must be examined, and as I noted above, patients often lie about drug use, either of illegal drugs or a misuse of a prescription drug, through shame, fear of exposure, or both.

My concern here is not to denigrate this woman's condition. It IS terrible, and she will always be debilitated by this condition.

But for this story to be publicized as if it is true, when such is NOT proven, is a disservice to the public, and it's shortcomings and misstatements need to be corrected so people are not unnecessarily frightened.

So I and others have done so, and I have posted links to places where people can get real, accurate and reliable information on this subject instead of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt).

And your personal attacks do NOT make your own posts any more credible, but less so.

indeed comforting

lol.. they put MURCURY in it folks, how healthy

From the CDC site regarding Adverse Events for the seasonal flu vaccine:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/acip/adverseTIV.htm

"In placebo-controlled studies among adults, the most frequent side effect of vaccination was soreness at the vaccination site (affecting 10%—64% of patients) that lasted less than 2 days. These local reactions typically were mild and rarely interfered with the recipients' ability to conduct usual daily activities. Placebo-controlled trials demonstrate that among older persons and healthy young adults, administration of TIV is not associated with higher rates for systemic symptoms (e.g., fever, malaise, myalgia, and headache) when compared with placebo injections. One prospective cohort study found that the rate of adverse events was similar among hospitalized persons who either were aged 65 years and older or were aged 18--64 years and had one or more chronic medical conditions compared with outpatients. Adverse events in adults aged 18 years and older reported to VAERS during 1990—2005 were analyzed. The most common adverse events reported to VAERS in adults included injection-site reactions, pain, fever, myalgia, and headache. The VAERS review identified no new safety concerns. In clinical trials, severe adverse events were reported to occur after vaccination with TIV at a rate of less than 1%. A small proportion (14%) of the TIV VAERS reports in adults were classified as severe adverse events, without assessment of causality. The most common severe adverse event reported after TIV in VAERS in adults was Guillain–Barré Syndrome (GBS). The potential association between TIV and GBS has been an area of ongoing research (see Guillain-Barré Syndrome and TIV)."

The FDA has a very good site explaining how our adverse reaction reporting system works:

http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/ReportaProblem/Vacc...

I work for the FDA. I know a lot of the people that are involved in regulating these medications.

The FDA, like all other government agencies, buys seasonal flu vaccines for distribution to their employees.

Normally, this vaccine lasts through most of the flu season, which runs through March. This year, it lasted less than a week.

I think this says a lot about the confidence those regulators have in the safety of this vaccine!

Let me ask you a question rwahrens:

If the government gave you a pistol with one miillion chambers...And put 7 bullets in seven of the chambers...Would you still put the gun to your head and pull the trigger....I mean your chance is only one in 7 hundred that you'd shoot yourself in the head...

But let me ask you. Is it worth taking a 7 in one million chance that you'd kill, or maim yourself to avoid the FLU. Even if they told you that pulling the trigger, with no bullet doesn't guarantee you wouldn't get the flu?

That's in essence what people are doing when they get the flu shot. The only difference is there are more bulllets, with lesser to greater effects when they slam into your head!

to be a valid comparison, you'd have to say 7 bullets and 999,993 medical doses that, let's say, prevent cancer.

so yes. I'd have to say I'd shoot myself. because cancer is bad and the odds with the gun are overwhelmingly in my favor.

I don't give a crap about ms desire jennings. I have no idea of knowing what caused her condition, except HER FEELING, and that's just not good enough. It sucks that she's sick, but the chances of what happened to her happening to me is so incredibly rare, that I feel comfortable ignoring that risk.

You apparently don't. I hope when you get the flu you'll stick to your guns and not seek out medical help - because it's true - the medical industry IS out to get you.

I'd have to go with evilsciencechick.

But in reality you don't know what you are talking about. That's obvious. You don't understand the difference between two things happening closely in time, and whether those two things are really connected in any other way.

So if you get sick, really lay-down-and-hope-you-die sick, and your cat comes in and lays down on the bed.

In an hour, you are up and feeling better, and by suppertime, you're ready to eat a steak.

Did you get well cause your cat sat on your bed?

No, and you know it.

This lady saying that the flu shot made her sick is just the same. She has no diagnosis from a medical doctor to prove it, and the doctors have no way to prove it in the first place.

For all we know she's lying about not using drugs, either because she doesn't want her husband to know, or because she doesn't want her insurance company to deny her coverage because of illegal drug use, or she's afraid the cops will arrest her for drug use.

People have done stranger things in the past.

You don't know, and neither do I or anybody else, and all you are doing by spreading this story is spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt about something you don't know Jack about.

Far from doing a public service, you are endangering the public health.

Ah, the old guilt trip route. Nice try.

No, fact.

What happened to this woman is terrible, but has NO bearing on vaccine use as it pertains to protecting the public health.

We have shown overwhelming evidence that you have ignored to show that there is NO evidence her condition was caused by that flu vaccine, that temporal proximity has NO relationship to causation, and your continuing to beat this dead horse is possibly frightening people away from taking this vaccine, resulting in more illness, and more possible deaths.

I don't give a damn if you feel guilty, but I hope my posts and evilsciencechick's and nettie's posts will help other people to go to the government's web sites and read the truth instead of your ignorant tripe.

http://www.flu.gov is where the truth is, and other sites containing GOOD information about vaccines are:

http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/default.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/

He suggested those sites because those are the most reliable sites with the most up to date information.

We have had three deaths here in Montana from H1N1 so far this flu season. That may not sound like many, but our entire population numbers less than one million. There has not been a single case of a reaction like the one described here...but that certainly does not mean there won't be any.

I don't know how things are playing out in the other states, but H1N1 is just RIPPING through our schools. Several schools in my community are reporting 30%+ absenteeism from H1N1 alone. I am in the middle portion of the state. Communities in the southern portion are, as a general rule, doing worse, while those in the northern portion are doing better...for now.

...and these kids are SICK! Parents are being advised not to call the hospital unless their child's temperature goes over 106 because fevers of 105+ are so common. These are the aspects of the illness that don't seem to be getting much air time. The extremely small risk of an adverse reaction must be measured not only against the possibility of a fatality but against the suffering and loss of productivity the pandemic is imposing.

Ironically, the primary tragedy right now is NOT that there are adverse reactions to the vaccine (though they are/it is without question tragic) but rather that the vaccine is STILL not being made available quickly enough to all those who want it. Again, I don't know the situation in other states, but all we have received so far is a limited number of doses of the mist variety. There are no injections available...yet that is the only effective vaccine for many. People aren't dying on the sidewalks...yet...but this flu is kicking our ass.

It should have happened to you!

because unlike the usual flu's that go around, swine flu seems to affect the young to young adults WORSE than other age groups. Young people with perfectly healthy immune systems are getting swine flu and dying, and no one knows why.

You can suck on all the vitamin C you want, it's not going to help. if you don't want to get the vaccine, make sure you wash your hands frequently and carry around hand sanitizer.

kthx - I would add not to touch your eyes, nose, mouth or any other orifice without washing hands first...or use a tissue to wipe those areas... or both

Swine flu is more intense than the regular flu. With regular influenza you're sick for about ten days in total; 2-3 days of fever (100-102 *F) where you're contagious and then the rest of the time feeling like crap and not contagious.

With the swine flu, you're sick for two weeks with 4-5 days of a high fever (104-105*). A continuous fever that high can kill you all by itself. It takes an enormous toll on the body. If anyone here or that you know does get sick my sole advice is to drink as much water, Pedialyte, and Gatorade as you can. Dehydration/shitting your guts out is what does most people in. You're also contagious for much longer with H1N1 making it harder for others to care for you if they don't want to get the sickness.

H1N1: Yes it's just the flu, but it's new, more powerful and deadlier.

It is worse beacuse the symptoms and severeness are indeed stronger and last longer, BUT only 60 people died last year globally from this strain of flu while thousands die from the normal influenza.
Explain that, and let me know what you find out.

Nettle can't or won't explain it. Just continually hyping it.

Good job Nettle. Hope you have some stock in the vaccine makers company. I'd hate to see you wasting your time without cashing in on it.

Lol, it wasn't widespread or widely known about. That's a simple one, no?

There is a lot of VERY good information on the flu at the government's http://www.flu.gov site.

Actually, the main difference between the H1N1 flu and the normal seasonal flu is that this appears to be a recent mutation, which means that there is a LOT less immunity in the human population, so huge numbers of people are getting sick.

Also, it seems that older people must have some immunity, because it is hitting older folks, 50 and older, less than younger. It is hitting the younger folks much harder, in much higher numbers. Also, this one is hitting pregnant women VERY hard. A significant percentage of those women have died compared to others that have contracted it.

Please go to the flu.gov site and read up on it.

WEIRDLY, I myself have NEVER had an adverse event related to a vaccine. And I have been getting flu shots every year since I was a kid.

And I don't know anyone personally who has ever had an adverse event to a flu shot, other than some itchiness around the injection site that soon goes away.

Obviously, we are all in the conspiracy.

What conspiracy? Yoiu keep uttering that buzz word as if it has meaning. Tell Desiree Jennings, whose life is sufficiently ruined by the flus shot, that she should just shut up and shake away. Because she has no right to warn others, right?

The amount of disrespect for her telling her story by you people makes me sick to my stomach.

The FDA has a very good site explaining how our adverse reaction reporting system works:

http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAva...

I work for the FDA. I know a lot of the people that are involved in regulating these medications.

The FDA, like all other government agencies, buys seasonal flu vaccines for distribution to their employees.

Normally, this vaccine lasts through most of the flu season, which runs through March. This year, it lasted less than a week.

I think this says a lot about the confidence those regulators have in the safety of this vaccine!

Ah, I see. Another one of the "I'm right and the rest of the world is wrong" types.

He can rant and rave all he wants to, but until his work is peer reviewed and accepted by enough of his peers to alter the general consensus of the entire medical profession of the Western World, we can look at the CDC and the FDA's reports on Adverse Reactions to see that there IS NO PROOF that any of what he alleges is true.

Come back with something provable.

had a friend get a nuerological side effect from an anti-depressant. And he thought he was depressed before taking that drug...

What neurological disorder and what drug?
I find that hard to beleive it was a serious one so please tell me

It should have happened to you!

you should thank him without being facetious. it helped boost your immune system.

Who are you to tell Amanda how she should feel or relay the story of her boyfriend giving her mono?

Seriously!

Your immune system gets lazy? Do you have any references for this that aren't on the back of a vitamin bottle?

Lol, but white blood cells don't recognize new viruses and therefore don't know how to combat them. Injecting a severely weakened or dead virus into the body allows the chance for the body to create the antibodies needed to fight off the virus if it comes to call again.

i'm talkin in a general sense, western medicine is all about shortcuts and taking too many shortcuts can leave your body short handed

Well that's proof right there that vaccines are total bunk, isn't it?

its proof that I don't need to risk suffering side effects from the flu shot...
Like Biglou I've never gotten the shot, but have gotten the flu, and survived. I intend on warding off the bug through regular exercise and healthy diet, and avoiding contact through handwashing.

I sincerely hope you're being sarcastic, as your avatar is a bong. But just in case you're not:

* 11,270 new cases of invasive cervical cancer every year
* 4,070 deaths from cervical cancer

cannabis is not a drug, its a plant that has some effects if you so happen to light it on fire, or mix it with a fatty oil and eat it.

To make a drug you gotta mix some baking soda and...I dont know the recipe I'm just sayin

---paraphrased from Kat Williams

seriously though, cannabis is the safest therapeutically active substance out there

You've stumbled on the big evil pharmaceutical company plan.

step 1. KILL EVERYONE IN THE WORLD

step 2. ???

step 3: PROFIT!

*clap clap clap*

And we would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you internet conspiracy nutjobs!

Maybe we should actually look at some facts. Both the FDA and the CDC track adverse reactions to drugs and vaccines. Here's what the CDC has to say:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/acip/adverseTIV.htm

Perhaps the ones trying to spread FUD on this issue should go read what the experts have to say.

you shall soon see the truth about the swine flu vaccinations, yung padowan..

ohhhh, you're a freak. gotcha.

*wanders away, rolling eyes*

ouch that really ruined my week

Oh, well that's an extremely rare case. I'm sure no one else will break out in hives from the shot.

*Sarcasm*

Let's break this down. If you get a flu shot, you still are not guaranteed that you won't get the flu. Nor will it guarantee that you won't spread the flu, once you get it.

However, you are guaranteed to possibly suffer from various side effects.

So, let's all hop on down to our local walmart, role up our sleeves, and take our chances that we may end up with some f@cked up disease, or mild, to extreme side-effects for NO GUARANTEE that we won't get the flu!

The general public truly are a bunch of dumbed-down zombies doing whatever their local media tells them to.

BTW, on behalf of doctors and drug companies everywhere, I bid you all a warm thank you for the billions and billions of dollars they will be making off of you, their generous, stupid guinea pigs!

Thanks!!!

Oh, also, you might want to keep in mind that legislation has been passed to ensure you cannot sue the vaccine-makers for compensation for any damages to the moronic guinea pigs!

"you are guaranteed to possibly suffer from various side effects."

guarenteed to possibly?

POINT FAIL

*points and laughs*

Let's see if I can make the poijnt so you can understand it.

Take the shot = the possiblity of having a reaction and no guarantee of being immune from the flu

Don't take the shot = NO possiblity of having a reaction.

You fail if you cannot understand that simple concept.

"no guarantee of being immune from the flu"

That's true of every medication. Do you take asprin or tylenol for a headache? Ever read the side effects on the bottle? Does it cure your headache every time?

Flu shot side effects, IF you get them, are mostly minimal. Your chance of getting the flu after getting the shot is more related to being exposed to a strain of the flu NOT covered by the shot - the companies that make the vaccine have to predict which strains they think will be prevalent that year.

And I'd take an itchy spot on my arm to drastically limit (but not completely eliminate) my chances of getting sick and possibly dying from the flu.

But that's me. An informed consumer.

Take the shot = the [extraordinarily slim] possibility of having a reaction and no guarantee of being immune from the flu.

Do you have any official statistics showing that the flu shot is making people have reactions left and right? No? Didn't think so.

Don't take the shot = NO possibility of having a reaction, but if you contract the flu in its pure form without any prior protection you are going to suffer five days of intense fever and ten days of contagiousness. H1N1 is much more intense than the regular seasonal flu and it can kill you.

You should make a vaccine adverse event report to VAERS if you or your child has regressed physically, mentally or emotionally after vaccination or has experienced acute symptoms within hours, days or weeks of vaccination. Some of these symptoms include:

Pronounced swelling, redness, heat or hardness at the site of the injection;
Body rash or hives;
Shock/collapse;
High pitched screaming or persistent crying for hours;
Extreme sleepiness or long periods of unresponsiveness;
High fever (over 103 F)
Twitching or jerking of the body, arm, leg or head;
Crossing of eyes;
Weakness or paralysis of any part of the body;
Loss of eye contact or awareness or social withdrawal;
Loss of ability to roll over, sit up or stand up;
Vision or hearing loss;
Restlessness, hyperactivity or inability to concentrate;
Sleep disturbances that change wake/sleep pattern;
Head banging or onset of repetitive movements (flapping, rubbing, rocking, spinning);
Joint pain;
Muscle weakness;
Disabling fatigue;
Loss of memory;
Onset of chronic ear or respiratory infections;
Violent or persistent diarrhea or chronic constipation;
Breathing problems (asthma);
Excessive bleeding (thrombocytopenia) or anemia.
There are other symptoms, which may indicate that you or your child has suffered a vaccine reaction. Not all symptoms that occur following vaccination are caused by a vaccine, but it cannot be automatically concluded that symptoms which do occur are NOT related to the vaccine. Therefore, it is important for your doctor to report ANY serious symptoms or dramatic change in physical, mental or emotional behavior that does occur following vaccination so federal health authorities have the information for analysis.

Now, why would a bad reaction be denied as a result of a vaccination?

SUING OF DOCTOR
SUING OF VACCINE MANUFACTURER.

What do they have to gain by killing us? I know you're going to say money, but that's not logical. There is no viable point in killing off millions of people in the midst of the economic depression we're in. There is literally no purpose. Chalk it up to government conspiracy if you want, but reactions are a natural phenomenon. I'm allergic to penicillin and peaches. Should I sue mold and peach trees? Methinks not.

P.S. Guinea pigs don't say oink.

You feel for the woman Nettle?

If you felt so deeply for her, you wouldn't try to detract from her warning to the public that her plight could become her own. That warning, that took so much out of her, and caused her additional pain JUST TO MAKE!

And I respect her for that. I'm not saying she's wrong, I'm saying that her case is rare and it's not going to happen (if this is even proven to be causal) to the vast majority or even a number of people that's statistically significant.

One person is statiscally significant! ONE PERSON!

And her name is Desiree Jennings, who will not run one marathon or cheer one cheer for the Redskins or any other football team..

Because she trusted a flu shot.

PERIOD.

So quit your fake concern for her, and go back to apologizing for vaccine makers who care about profit, and not one iota for the lives their vaccines may damage permanently!

You don't even know what statistically significant is, do you?

If you were her NETTLE, would that ONE PERSON be statistically significant to you?

I dare say yes.

And that is my point. I guess you never tried on someone elses shoes before.

Where did you leave your humanity Nettle?