Woman Disabled by Flu Shot Reaction

By CLAUDIA COFFEY/myfoxdc
WASHINGTON, D.C. - An Ashburn, Virginia woman is in the fight of her life after suffering a very rare side effect to the seasonal flu shot.

The vast majority of doctors say flu shots are safe. In this case, the FDA says they found nothing wrong with this particular batch, but sometimes there are complications.

That's apparently what happened to Desiree Jennings, and now her life will never be the same.



FOR AN UPDATE ON DESIREE AND HER CONDITION, CLICK HERE FOR OUR NEWEST STORY.
At 26 years old, Desiree Jennings was the picture of health. She's a Washington Redskins cheerleader and an avid runner. Her life changed forever on August 23 when she says she got a seasonal flu shot at a local grocery store.

"I was training for a half marathon then," said Jennings, crying. "It just all went so fast."

Ten days after receiving the shot, she came down with the flu. After that, her health spiraled downwards. She started passing out and had to be hospitalized twice.

"We went to an urgent care place and they wouldn't even let her get out of my truck because she was seizing in the back so bad, so they called an ambulance immediately," says her husband, Brendan Jennings.

Doctors at Fairfax Inova and Johns Hopkins diagnosed her with a rare neurological disorder called dystonia. They think it was caused by a severe reaction to the flu shot.

Desiree now has difficulty speaking, walking, and even eating. During an interview with FOX 5, she had several seizures. The effects are irreversible.

"The symptoms will get worse if I use my voice or walk when the brain signals are misfiring," says Jennings.

Desiree reported her health problems to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) thinking there might have been something wrong with her vaccine. We also contacted the FDA and we were told they found no problems with the particular lot of flu vaccines that Desiree received, and the agency has not received any other reports of adverse effects from this lot.

Health experts stress that overall, extreme side effects are rare.

"The flu shot is safe for the majority of the public, and as I said before, your heart goes out to someone that experiences this sort of thing-- thinking that they are doing something great for their wellness and their general health, but it does happen in extremely rare cases," says Rachel Lynch with Fairfax Inove Health System.

For Desiree, she just happened to be one of those rare cases.

"I just don't want this to happen to anyone else," says Jennings.

Desiree and her husband plan to visit the Mayo Clinic in Arizona in November. They're hoping to get more answers about this disease and how they live with it.

Desiree has received flu shots before in 2007 and 2008.

I'm not saying don't get the shot...but be very, very leery. Me personally? I'm not getting it but then again I feel very confident that my body can fight off ANY flu all on its own.

Same here. I've never gotten a flu shot except ONCE and that was the year that, you guessed it, I got the flu. Let my immune system, good diet, and sleep handle it.

Cibaeno75. Life is a risky proposition. Millions have these seasonal flu shots and a vast majority have no side-effects. Nothing new here.

Hey, do what you feel is right for you and I'll do the same. The reason I put this info out there is because I think that this might be a real problem and I just want my fellow posters here in the states to weigh their options. That is all.

Flu shots immunization is the best thing that you can do for your health. In the states it is given for free in many companies for their employees, because it saves them money from absenteeism because of sickness.
Before I started having flu shots, I used to get the disabling flu 4 or 5 times a year, plus inflamed tonsils and cough for 3 or 4 days, in addition to having small children growing up that were always getting the bug at school. Now I NEVER get the flu, and when I feel some symptoms, I quickly take some liquid vitamin A and effervescent C, to build up the defenses and the symptoms only last one day or so and they are very mild.
Having the flu shot is the best preventive investment you can make for your health, more so at the time of the changing climatic conditions from warm to cold weather.
What happened to that woman is a very rare occurrence, and chances are pretty good that most people will not have that reaction.

"I feel very confident that my body can fight off ANY flu all on its own."

come on did you actually check which nationality you are? bingo!!!! being dominican with a batch of vicks vapor rub would make me as confident as you ciby!

being in the medical field myself i understand the importance of the flu shot. nobody on here mentioned anything concerning what types of flu we were talking about but i did want to mention that the actual flu shot is for influenza flu and not the stomach flu. the latter which is something we may get from time to time.

My granma swore that Vicks Vaporub can cure cancer! LOL

along with raising the dead practically!