Yet another vaccine victim

[Guest guest]

This reaction happened almost immediately after vaccination yet QLD health

in its incredible ignorance (arrogance, stupidity, you name it) says that

they symptoms may not be related! Thank you to for alerting me to this

article and for her incredible letter in response which follows the article.

The website for this article is http://www.qt.com.au/ and the email for

letters to the editor is qt@... so please send a letter to say how

you feel about this issue.

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Vaccinations turn into parents’ nightmare

By Tony

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD Brenton Waters sees life through dark welding glasses.

He has to. The daylight is dreadfully painful to his eyes.

His Rosewood home is blackened to keep out the light. To take some of the

photographs in the QT he bravely swapped his welding glasses for dark

sunglasses for a few minutes. It hurt a lot.

Yet Brenton’s extreme light sensitivity is just the latest hardship he faces

since he had a meningococcal vaccination in one arm and a tetanus injection

in the other on May 7 at Rosewood High.

Almost immediately he felt nauseous, could not lift his left arm and began

to shiver and shake.

Today his left side, head, and arm are locked and his leg shakes

uncontrollably.

Queensland Health said the symptoms may not be related to the vaccination

and doctors are undecided. Still, Brenton keeps smiling.

Brenton's Dark Battle With Immunisation

Almost overnight, Rosewood State High School student Brenton Waters

developed crippling injuries after he had meningococcal and tetanus

vaccinations. five months later, he is bravely optimistic.

May 7 should have been like any other day at Rosewood High for Brenton

Waters. Bit it did not turn out that way. The keen maths and science student

who still finds time to be the treasurer of his Rosewood Leo Club, received

vaccinations for meningococcal C and tetanus on that day.

Linked to the vaccinations or not, his world is no longer the same. His left

side is now locked up. His left arm curls tightly up against his face, his

left leg shakes as if electrified and his head is curled down towards his

shoulder.

He is tremendously sensitive to light and his arched, hunched back is

terribly painful. Brenton, who has a fabulous sense of humour, starts each

day with the Seven Network's Sunrise program and concedes he has become a

big fan of host, Koch's sly irony at the world.

It doesn't take much to produce a smile that is wide enough to push its way

past the huge welding goggles he now has to use to stop the light hurting

his eyes.

The second of three neurologists he has seen diagnosed as suffering

spasmodic torticollis, while a third believes it is a psychological matter,

perhaps of some trauma.

" Which is rubbish, if you don't mind me saying, " Brenton adds quickly, and

smiles again.

Mum Dona Waters has told the story many times since May 7, but perseveres.

He had meningococcal and tetanus innoculations on the same day, " Mrs. Waters

said. " One in each arm. He said, right from when it got it, he felt nauseous

He started shivering and shaking. He felt like he had hurt his arm. The

next day, he started a very, very heavy cold. Three days later, a very heavy

cough set in. Six days later, he developed such a bad cough they put him in

St. 's Hospital. "

This is fellow patients in St. 's Hospital, he became known as the

Ward cougher " because the cough was heard through the corridors.

Later came the leg spasms and tremors and the changes to his shoulder and

arms. Only when Brenton is in deep sleep does his cramped, twisted

appearance change. And still, only one biological test has proven positive.

Mycoplasma pneumonia. (my note here - I know I have heard that mycoplasma

are a contaminant of many vaccines - if someone has more information on this

I would really appreciate it).

As Brenton says, " It is the only one thing that has been positive. " And he

smiles again.

This week, he has returned to school to catch up with the rest of his maths

class. And in fact, he's ahead again.

Brenton Walters' mum Dona is now undecided about immunisation. And

thoughtful about the situation she faces with her younger child, Brenton's

sister Shenae.

" As a parent, I feel you are damned if you do and damned if you don't in

terms of immunisation, " Mrs. Waters said. As a carer at Rosewood's Cabandah

nursing centre, she is used to the ramifications of medical decisions. But

Brenton's situation gives her ground for thought.

" When it comes to Shenae - maybe not, " she said.

The Rosewood and surrounding community has developed an amazing network of

support around the Waters family. As well as friends and helpers, people

with medical skills have offered assistance, Dona said. " The local Chinese

community offered a Chinese Herbalist and Acupuncturist, " she said. " They

came here and said he was the best. And he gave Brenton Acupunture and he

had an ointment. " For a while, Brenton's twitching leg stopped moving. Later

the food began to move again, then more vigorously. Mrs. Waters said the

gentleman talked about Brenton's legs. " He said they are so cold. He has no

energy. Now he is trying to warm up from the inside, " she said. A naturopath

is also trying to help, this week taking blood samples to try to find a

treatment and the Waters family keeps smiling.

'No connection'

Queensland Health's Darling Downs Health Unit believes Brenton's condition

is not likely to be related to his vaccinations.

Public health physician, Dr. Brad McCall, yesterday said the situation was

investigated in August.

" Queensland Health's Darling Downs Publid Health Unit was contacted by the

father of the young man regarding concerns about vaccines for meningococcal

C and tetanus which his son received at his high school in May 2003, " Dr.

McCall said.

" In response, staff from the Darling Downs Public Health Unit carried out a

public health investigation in conjunction with reporting doctors and family

During this investigation, every effort was made to determine if there was

any connection between a vaccine and a suspected adverse event. As a result

of this investigation, Queensland Health staff determined the current

condition of the young man is not likely related to the vaccinations

received in May 2003. "

The family has not received advice of their report, Mrs. Waters said on

Thursday.

Twin Injections safe: health experts

It was accepted medical practise to issue meningococcal C and tetanus

injections at the same time, Queensland Health said yesterday.

Public Health physician, Dr. Brad McCall said while there was an extremely

rare possibility of an allergic reaction, Queensland Health had complete

confidence in the safety of the vaccines.

" It's standard practise to administer both tetanus and meningococcal C

vaccines to all eligible children in year 10 at all Queensland secondary

schools in one sitting, " Dr. McCall said.

He said the vaccines were provided by highly-trained nurse practitioners and

were effective ways of protecting adolescents against tetanus and

meningococcal.

" There are very clear protocols and procedures in place to deal with any

adverse reactions, " he said (my note - exactly - the protocol is to ignore

and deny)

Federal Health authorities on Friday said the Australian Standard

Vaccination Schedule (ASVS) approved injections of tetanus and meningococcal

C on the same day. This is backed by the National Health and Medical

Research Council (NHMRC). On page 12 of the Australian Immunisation Handbook

(8th Edition), a section dealing with multiple vaccinations for children on

the same day contains this recommendation:

" All the scheduled vaccines can be given at the same time on the same day

(eg. at two months of age) as indicated in the australian Standard

Vaccination Schedule. Where possible, they should be given in different

limbs and always administered using separate syringes and needles. The NHMRC

recommed that in those cases where three or more injections are required on

the ASVS, they should be given at one visit without unnecessary delay.:

Drug Report Finding

Only one Australian death was definitely connected to an adverse reaction to

a vaccine in almost three years of the latest study (my note again - is that

any surprise when someone who reacted almost immediately is being told that

their condition is not related to the vaccine?)

That case involved an adult vaccinated against yellow fever, a report from

the federal government's adverse drug reactions advisory committee said.

The report said overall there were 2409 adverse reactions among children and

adults between January 2 2000 and September 30 2002.

Only 10% of these were serious and 10 people died but none of these were

among the almost 1400 cases the report listed as not certainly or probably

linked to the vaccination.

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's letter:

Dear Editor

I want to congratulate you on giving such prominence to the vaccination

reaction story you printed on Saturday 18 October. I too have a child who

had an adverse reaction to vaccination, it occurred when she was one year

old and I know first hand how harmful vaccination can be. The Measles,

Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccination robbed my perfectly healthy well developing

one year old of good health and quality of life. We now care for a child

with such significant and complex needs that it impacts on our quality of

life every day. We face financial and emotional pressures that could have

been avoided and are continually battling bureaucracies for access to

services and an appropriate educational setting. We vaccinated our first

baby believing it was the right thing to do but now know better that to

subject any child to vaccination. A severe reaction to vaccination is

tragic for the child who suffers it and their family. I can't undo the

damage that occurred to my daughter but I would urge parents to research the

topic and not trust or rely on information from Medical Practitioners and

pharmaceutical companies. Instead ask complimentary health professionals

and track down independent information from parents and vaccination

information groups such as the Australian Vaccination Network. I wish

someone had told me the truth about how risky vaccination really is I would

never have vaccinated my precious baby.