Age: 76.0
Sex: M
Vaccine: VARZOS, VARZOS
Symptoms: Herpes zoster oticus, Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging normal, Vertigo
Clinical narrative: Patient awoke 1 week after vaccination and noted he was unable to hear on right side. Saw primary MD and ENT same day. ENT diagnosed "herpes" inside right ear - no external lesions or pain. Started Prednisone taper and Valtrex. After 1 week: still deaf on right. Now has vertigo, feels weak. 8/20/07-records received for DOS 6/13-6/22/07-DC DX: Dyslipidemia. Chronic Tinnitus. Presented with sudden onset of vertigo and right hearing loss about 1 week prior to admission. Long term history of bilateral decrease in hearing and also long history of chronic tinnitus. Vertigo worsened. Unable to stand or ambulate. PE: severe vertigo and inability to stand or ambulate. 1/11/2010 Still deaf in right ear; PO% hearing loss in left ear. Still suffer problems with balance, tinniture, headaches and vertigo.  Follow-up: Residual symptoms - My right ear is still totally deaf. My left ear remains significantly damaged and has recruitment; I still have significant problem in understanding the spoken word, whether by a person, on TV, radio, etc. I can no longer use the telephone as I can understand less than 25% of what's spoken, and sometimes none. My new hearing aid provides only minimal benefit and helps in only certain circumstance. I continue to be plagued with severe tinnitus and accompanying headaches. I still have a "balance" problem, and I've had some recurrence of vertigo. I feel all these problems are related to the ZOSTAVAX inoculation, as does my ENT. ZOSTAVAX contains a weakened strain of the Zoster virus which is knows to cause vision and hearing problems, even to the point of total loss of those senses. I'm totally convinced that my hearing loss is a direct result of the ZOSTAVAX inoculation. Additional comments - Recent Merck & Co. newspaper ads promoting ZOSTAVAX mislead the public when they fail to state the possible extremely serious side effect of loss of sight and/or hearing when getting the ZOSTAVAX inoculation. How can they get away with this? Other comments - My family doctor sends me to an ENT. The ENT says he can do nothing more for me and refers me back to my family doctor who also says there is nothing he can do for me, as he is not a specialist in ear problems. I call a vestibular neurologist whose technician administers some brutal tests. The doctor then sets up an appointment to see me, presumably to review the test results - on March 26, 2008. Such a time delay is criminal. I call my ENT's office for further guidance because I'm still suffering with significant problems. My ENT's PA says the results of the tests I just had are "normal"; yet I question why the specialist wants to see me in March. Now the PA wants me to get vestibular therapy, to see a neurologist for my headaches, and to see another audiologist for my tinnitus and recruitment. My family doctor can't help and my ENT and/or PA are just shunting me around from doctor to doctor. Meanwhile, I'm living in holy hell, the primary problem being the severe tinnitus in my right (deaf) ear. There appears to be no one doctor in charge of, or monitoring, my health. Unless you experience it yourself, you just can't imagine what I'm going through.