Age: 1.5
Sex: F
Vaccine: DTAPIPVHIB, FLU4, DTAPIPVHIB
Symptoms: Encephalopathy, Fall, Gait inability, Head banging, Lethargy
Clinical narrative: 12/6 Pt received the DTAP five in one vaccine and the four in one influenza vaccine at approximately 11AM. 12/6 Approximately 5PM pt was in bed with a fever, diarrhea, sweating, crying, and would not eat or drink very much. 12/10 Took pt to the doctor's office for further information and pt was prescribed Amoxicillin. 12/10 Pt began waking up frequently throughout the night with inconsolable screaming fits, during which she did not want to have any contact or be touched. This continued for multiple days. 12/11 Attempted to contact doctor because pt was not responding to audio or visual cues. She would appear to be in a trance while staring at you but looking through you. Pt was banging her head into the ground and walls. Pt was also flapping her hands and feet in circular motions. In addition, pt would shake her head from time to time and constantly spin in circles. Pt also regressed from walking to crawling and if she would walk at all, was very unstable with her balance. Upon speaking with doctor, we asked the doctor what was wrong? Is this autism? Doctor's response was you think its autism. I will refer you to an early intervention specialist. 12/11 Contact early intervention office and was redirected to proper office because of location responsible for handling my county. 12/12 Contacted correct early intervention office and was informed that autism does not set in this rapidly and we were instructed to look into adverse medication reactions. We stopped giving pt her acid reflux medicine. Her symptoms continued as they were. We also began speech therapy with pt at home per the recommendation of a family member who is a speech pathologist. 1/10  pt spoke for the first time since receiving her vaccinations with her first word again being Ma. 1/10 While sleeping, we noticed pt would have frequent but not consistent hand and feet movements that did not occur before and did not appear to be sleep related. She would also hold her breath, open her eyes in a panic, and cry upon waking herself up. 1/24 Veins in pt's head, specifically in the temporal lobe region became very pronounced and appeared to become more visible and stand out more than in the past. 1/10  2/21 was a continuous period of working at home with pt with no medical assistance from our pediatrician. We spoke with doctor intermittently between these timeframes to attempt to figure out what is wrong with pt and how to correct it. 2/21 Doctor's appointment with pediatrician. Questioned pediatrician regarding the reason for not informing us of this potential side effect to vaccine to which she responded It is not common. We did not want to deter you from giving your daughter a vaccine. We questioned doctor regarding her definition of rare versus common to which doctor responded she could not provide any information regarding these statistics. We asked doctor about possible side effects and she instructed us to see a neurologist or Center for Infectious Diseases doctor. We informed doctor of our apprehension of seeing a neurologist because we did not want to have to give her an MRI. Doctor instructed us to not do the MRI if we were not certain. We brought up our research of encephalopathy and the potential that pt may be experiencing this as a side effect from vaccine. Doctor was dismissive and said she very rarely sees cases of this, as this probably was not the case. Doctor provided us with information regarding Thimerasol and Mercury used in vaccines as preservative and told us these vaccines were completely safe. Doctor was asked for any other potential causes and she informed us the only other thing she had seen that may pose similar symptoms is Landau-Kleffner Syndrome. We asked doctor for vaccine inserts for both vaccines pt received. Doctor instructed the doctor's assistant to print them out. Doctor's assistant informed us that they throw vaccine inserts in trash and she needed to print out one online upon our request of vaccine insert. Doctor's assistant finally printed one out for both the DTAP and influenza insert. Doctor handed them to us and said she had another patient and to have a nice day as she rapidly rushed away. Read both inserts and they both stated these vaccines are not to be given with another vaccine. 4/4 Since our visit with our former pediatrician, we have made multiple changes with pt including the stoppage of her medication Ranitidine on 12/12. We have also changed her eating habits including the introduction of plant-based protein into her diet. Many of these changes to the diet and additions of vitamins to her diet are the result of a consultation with a homeopathic doctor that occurred on 2/25. On 3/4 we visited with a doctor of neurology at the Hospital who ordered an EEG. On 3/21 we took pt for an EEG at a outpatient facility. The improvement of pt's state is a result of daily speech therapy that both my husband and I do with pt per the recommendation of a speech pathologist. Daily learning activities have been constant and occurring on multiple time a day. On 4/3 pt was evaluated by an early intervention specialist to determine if she would be eligible for state-funded assistance. The evaluator performed various speech and cognitive skill assessments. Upon the completion of the evaluation, we were informed she would not be eligible because of the dramatic improvement she has made from December to now.