Age: 70.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: FLU3
Symptoms: Vaccination complication, Walking aid user, Wheezing
Clinical narrative: My wife is the subject of this report. I am writing this as an eyewitness to the events following her "over 65" flu vaccine administered at approximately noon on Wednesday, November 4, 2015. My wife does have several health issues (mechanical heart valve, arthritis, pre-diabetic, lactose intolerant and high blood pressure which is under control and is on a number of medications which are attached for section 17). Prior to the administration of this vaccine, she was able to walk and was not feeling ill. I am not a doctor, so I will be using laymen's terms to describe this decline in her health during the afternoon and evening of November 4, 2015. Patient had a noon appointment for an "over 65" flu shot on November 4, 2015. She was able to walk into the office and upon the completion of her visit was able to walk back to the car. Shortly thereafter, we returned to our home and she was able to walk into our house with no problem. During the afternoon, she progressively felt worse. Her first symptom was heartburn about an hour after her shot. Approximately 2-3 hours later she had intense chills to the point of having to have three blankets over her but still had chills, more heartburn, wheezing, difficulty breathing and irregular/rapid heartbeat. Toward the evening, she attempted to get up to go to the bathroom. She was so weak, especially in her lower back and legs, that she could not get up even with the assistance of a walker. Finally, with my help, we got her up to hold on to the walker. This was extremely difficult for her to do. I held on to her as she made her way to the bathroom which took a very long time. She got in the bathroom and on the toilet but again it was a very slow process. After being on the toilet, I attempted many times to help her stand up so she could hold on to the walker. As I was helping her get up, I was holding her under her arms but I just could not hold to her. With my hands under her arms, patient slowly dropped to the bathroom floor. At that point, I decided that we needed to call 911. At approximately 8:45 p.m., the ambulance arrived. They were able to get patient up and onto a chair and then onto a stretcher. Her blood pressure was elevated and she was having an irregular heartbeat, a rapid heartbeat and extreme weakness. When she arrived at the hospital, she did have a fever of 100.4 degrees as well as rapid heartbeat, irregular heartbeat and elevated blood pressure. Patient remained at hospital for seven days. Following patient's release from the hospital, she was admitted for rehabilitation. She spent three weeks there and received physical and occupational therapy. Following her stay, she received home care services for several weeks. She received, primarily, physical therapy to assist her with her balance and to strengthen her legs so she could walk without a walker. Currently, patient improved enough so that she no longer needs to use her walker unless her arthritis becomes a problem. Please note, that in the hospital/doctor's report, staff indicates that they did not feel that this was caused by the "over 65" flu shot; however, we were both told by the admitting physician that he would not rule out that this could have been a reaction to the flu shot. Patient was told by at least one other hospitalist that what happened was a reaction to the flu shot which she received. She also has been told by two additional physicians that she is to no longer get the "over 65" vaccine. As an eye-witness to this event, I am positive that the vaccine did create this severe reaction. Patient is now very concerned regarding receiving any flu shot in the future. This needs to be addressed by someone at VAERS or the CDC. We would also like to know if the flu strains were different from any other year. We would appreciate a call from someone at your office to explain this.