Las Vegas man blames flu shot for triggering rare disorder
Las Vegas Man blames flu shot for triggering rare disorder. (KSNV)
He’s been hospitalized for the last 2 weeks. At one point he was even put on a ventilator and in the ICU and his family blames the flu shot.
Shane Morgan went from perfectly healthy to unable to speak, walk, or breathe on his own.
At the start of November, Shane and his wife Monique like most couples were planning for the holidays, and with family and young infants coming to town they decided to get the flu shot.
“About 36-hours after he got the flu shot he started to get sick,” Monique said as she sat next to her husband in his hospital bed.
Shane started complaining that he couldn’t feel his legs or arms so his wife rushed him to Centennial Hills Hospital, where he spent 4-days on a ventilator in the ICU.
Doctors started treating Shane for Guillain-Barre Syndrome also known as GBS.
It’s a rare disorder where a person’s immune system damages their nerve cells, in some cases turning deadly.
The Morgan’s say they’re sure the flu shot is what triggered it.
“I never dreamed that any of this could ever happen,” Shane said from his hospital bed.
According to the CDC, there is a link between the flu shot and GBS, but it’s extremely rare. Statistics show 1 to 2 people develop GBS from the flu shot per 1-million vaccinations.
Officials with the Southern Nevada Health District say the risk of developing GBS is actually higher if you catch the flu.
“The benefit from the flu vaccine greatly overcomes any specific rare condition like this one that might happen,” said Fermin Leguen, Chief Medical Officer with the Health District.
However, for the Morgans it’s just not worth the risk.
“He’d take the flu ten to one,” Monique said.
Interrupted by Shane who said, “I’d take the flu shot three times a season than to have to do this once in a lifetime.”
They say no one in their family will get the flu shot ever again.
The health district says this story shouldn’t deter people from getting the flu shot, they say it saves lives.
___
https://news3lv.com/news/local/las-vegas-man-blames-flu-shot-for-triggering-rare-disorder