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AFM Compared to Guillain-Barré Syndrome

boy in a wheelchair

Right now there is no conclusive evidence that recently reported cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) primarily reported in children is caused by a virus. All there is at the moment is speculation that a virus could be causing this polio-like illness. While it may appear that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials are more inclined now to blame a virus based on a Nov. 16, 2018 CDC update on the AFM outbreak, that update merely stated that, “Clinical, laboratory, and epidemiologic evidence to date suggest a viral association.”1 2

Most of the “clinical evidence” appears to be based on the observation that during the four weeks “preceding the onset of limb weakness, signs and symptoms consistent with a viral illness were reported” for 99 percent of the confirmed AFM patients. Of these patients, 81 percent experienced fever, 78 percent had respiratory issues such as coughing, rhinorrhea (runny nose) and congestion, and 38 percent suffered from gastrointestinal problems, including vomiting and diarrhea.2 

The underlying assumption, however, is that only a viral infection can cause these kind of symptoms. That assumption, of course, could be wrong. Medications, for example, can cause those symptoms.3 4 5 6 7 8 They’re sometimes referred to as adverse effects.

Vaccines can also cause those symptoms, which are referred to as adverse effects, or adverse reactions or side effects.9 10

Logically-speaking, if you’re going to theorize that AFM may be caused by a virus because nearly all of these AFM patients exhibited symptoms that could have been caused by a virus, then you would have to consider the possibility that AFM could be caused by medications or vaccines, as well. You would also have to consider environmental toxins, because they too can produce similar adverse effects.11 12 13

But there may be another possible explanation, says Nancy Messonnier, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Dr. Messonnier recently said that AFM “seems to be more of an autoimmune syndrome, as opposed to a direct result of a virus.” 14

Messonnier’s observation that AFM may not be a disease but, rather, related to immune dysfunction and autoimmunity is helpful. However, it does not address the question of what is causing an immune mediated type of paralysis that looks a lot like polio.

If AFM is indeed a type of autoimmune disorder, then what is causing the constellation of symptoms that characterize the syndrome? What is the biological mechanism involved in the development of “weakness and loss of muscle tone and reflexes in the arms or legs, facial droop or weakness, difficulty moving the eyes, drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing and slurred speech” in previously healthy children?15 

CDC officials already know part of the the answer to that: AFM involves inflammation of the spinal cord.15 16 But exactly what is causing the spinal cord to become inflamed? That is what public health officials say is unclear.

Messonnier has compared AFM to what happens with the autoimmune neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barré Syndrome, in which the immune system attacks healthy nerve cells in the peripheral nervous system.17 Unfortunately, there are outstanding questions about what exactly causes Guillain-Barré Syndrome, as well. According to the Mayo Clinic, “The disorder usually appears days or weeks after a respiratory or digestive tract infection. Rarely, recent surgery or immunization can trigger Guillain-Barre Syndrome.”18

Vaccines can trigger Guillain-Barre? Yes. Which ones?

According to the CDC, there may be a “small increased risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) after inactivated flu vaccine.”19 There have been awards made in the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) to individuals who have been paralyzed by GBS following vaccinations.20

Any other vaccines? Yes.

Under “Post Marketing Experience” of reported adverse effects listed in the product information package insert for Merck’s live attenuated MMR II (mumps, measles, rubella) vaccine, it lists GBS (under nervous system):

Encephalitis; encephalopathy; measles inclusion body encephalitis (MIBE) (see CONTRAINDICATIONS); subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE); Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS); acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM); transverse myelitis; febrile convulsions; afebrile convulsions or seizures; ataxia; polyneuritis; polyneuropathy; ocular palsies; paresthesia.21 

Cases of Guillain-Barré have also been reported following hepatitis B vaccinations,22 as well as meningococcal polysaccharide, tetanus and polio vaccinations.23

Based on Messonnier’s view that AFM might be an autoimmune disorder similar to Guillain-Barré Syndrome, and based on the fact that Guillain-Barré Syndrome can reportedly be triggered by a number of vaccines, it would be reasonable to at least consider the possibility of an association between AFM and vaccination. This is particularly relevant given that 99 percent of confirmed AFM cases were diagnosed in individuals who had shown clinical symptoms that could have been caused by vaccination.

CDC officials have not released information about how many of the AFM cases were recently vaccinated or if there have been any cases of AFM diagnosed in children who are completely unvaccinated or who have received only a few vaccinations. How can there be no consideration given to the possibility that there may be an association between AFM and vaccine-induced immune dysfunction in some of the cases?

Officially, AFM is still a “mystery illness,”24 so it makes no sense to close any door to inquiries that could yield important clues about why healthy children are suddenly being paralyzed without warning.


References:

1 Cáceres M. Under Siege by Critics, CDC Moves to Blame a Virus for Polio-like Cases of AFM. The Vaccine Reaction Nov. 14, 2018.
2
McKay SL, Lee AD, Lopez AS, Nix WA, Dooling KL, Keaton AA, Spence-Davizon E, Herlihy R, Clark TA, Hopkins SE, Pastula DM, Sejvar J, Oberste MS, Pallansch MA, Patel M, Routh JA, Increase in Acute Flaccid Myelitis — United States, 2018. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Nov. 13, 2018.
3
Boyce TG. Drug-Related Gastroenteritis and Chemical-Related Gastroenteritis. Merck Manuel May 2017.
4 Wilke M. Could these medications be causing your chronic cough? Health24.com Aug. 27, 2018.
5 Saleh N. Cough Caused by Lisinopril and Other ACE Inhibitors. VeryWellHealth.com Sept. 24, 2018.
6 
McDonald M, Sexton DJ. Drug fever. UpToDate.com.
7 Tabor PA. Drug-induced fever. Drug Intell Clin Pharm  June 1986; 20(6): 413-20.
8 
Lipsky BA, Hirschmann JV. Drug Fever. JAMA 1981; 245(8): 851-854
9 Cáceres M. Vaccine “Side Effects” are Real and Plenty. The Vaccine Reaction June 1, 2017.

10 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Possible Side-effects from Vaccines. CDC.gov.

11 Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. WebMD.

12
 Environmental Illness. Michigan Medicine.
13 Hess EV. Environmental chemicals and autoimmune disease: cause and effect. Toxicology Dec. 27, 2002; 181-182: 65-70.
14
Sun LH. Experts chase the cause of a paralyzing childhood disease spiking this year. The Washington Post Nov. 13, 2018.
15 CDC. Acute Flaccid Myelitis in U.S. Children. CDC.gov.
16 Staff Writer. Five Things You Should Know About Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM). University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital Oct. 17, 2018.
17 Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Healthline.
18 Mayo Clinic. Guillain-Barre syndrome. MayoClinic.org.

19 CDC. Possible Side-effects from Vaccines. CDC.gov.
20 Kelto A. Vaccine Court Aims to Protect Patients and Vaccines. NPR June 2, 2015.
21 Merck & Co. M-M-R® II (MEASLES, MUMPS, and RUBELLA VIRUS VACCINE LIVE). FDA.gov.
22 Merck & Co. Recombivax HB Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant). FDA.gov.
23 Vernon N, Jhaveri P. Adverse Effects of Adolescent ImmunizationsThe Journal of the American Osteopathic Association March 2014; 114: S13-S17
24 CDC. Transcript for CDC Telebriefing: Update on Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) in the U.S. CDC.gov Oct. 17, 2018.

30 Responses

  1. Warning, I don’t sugar coat my thoughts.

    I’d bet most if not all of these poor children are vaccine injured but the CDC will never admit it. Vaccines are a $4 billion a year income for the CDC. It’s quite telling that they still cannot figure out why there’s this sudden outbreak. They probably know and are scrambling to find something else to blame it on. And they are trying to figure out how to fudge the data so as to hide the correlation, like they did with the African boys vaccine injury stats.

    I believe that I was vaccine injured after getting the flu shot in 2011. My symptoms seem to me to be text-book GBS. Living with many neurological deficits and issues, daily living is painful and a chore. I’ve been searching for a doctor willing to read through my medical records (about 1,500 pages as well as before and after MRI’s, CT scans, etc) and tell me if they think it’s possible that it was GBS. The last doctor I contacted said they would look over my records but their cost was $4,500. I live on $13,000 a year so that’s not going to happen. I believe that if I could get my records looked at I could possibly take my case to the VICP, they added GBS from flu shots to the schedule, I believe in 2017 and they have paid out on more flu shot injuries than any other. The 2 year time limit is coming up. Anyhow, thanks for reading.

  2. Come on guys, even if all of the kids all had vaccines 5 minutes before the onset of paralysis, it would still only amount to a large number of coincidences. And since there’s no way it could be the vaccines, and even if it was reporting it would not be compulsory, and it would be speculation to mention vaccines when there is almost zero chance it could have been the vaccines, it won’t get reported, so all we will have is a bunch of parents’ anecdotes on blogs. And what crazy fool would believe those?

    1. You can’t possibly be serious!?! There’s too much irrefutable evidence living evidence that vaccines are toxic And deadly. I for one will not play Russian roulette with my loved ones know myself but you go right ahead Mr. Tam!

    2. Mr. Tam….Next time read the article, then you won’t get hung by your tongue, spreading lies. Your statement…”And since there’s no way it could be the vaccines,”……
      The Vaccine manufactures admit, the Vaccines can cause GBS, which makes your statement(s) pure lies. The VICP has PAID out damages due to the Vaccines causing GBS. So, we’re supposed to Believe you over the Manufacture and the Corrupt VICP, LOL! Nice try Sparky, but the only thing you’ve accomplished in your statements, is proved your Skeptic PAID Shill & Liar with no conscious. You may as well be just one of those Psychopaths that run the FDA, CDC, NIH, HHS, EPA, etc…. Try THINKING before you open your mouth next time…..and it’s up to you, whether or not you wish to keep supporting an Industry & Government that is Intentionally POISONING the US Population, in particular our Children! (& the World as a matter of FACT!)

      Hence, It’s US against Them (the Remorseless Psychopaths & Fraudulent Scientists)
      Either, you’re with the PEOPLE or the Psychopaths in Washington, real simple Folks.

    3. Don’t you read the manufacturer’s insert? Oh I forgot most patients don’t get a proper informed choice and the patient information leaflet is not the same. Coincidence!!!!! This joker here must be a quack.

  3. I just heard Forrest Maready, author of the wonderful book, Unvaccinated, speak at the Weston A Price Foundation conference. I call him the new Del Bigree. He’s an incredible researcher dedicated to helping children. His new book called CROOKED explains perfectly what is going on with this polio like illness. Its all about the immune system and aluminum. A virus or even something else will cause an immune reaction which triggers the aluminum being taken to the brain. Its the same reason we used to be told, never give a vaccine when sick. It’s too can trigger an autoimmune reaction. too much immune system, turned on. See Forrest on his podcasts. He’s brilliant and funny., Let’s hope he can help. If we can somehow get this info to go viral that vaccines cause paralysis, maybe we can break open the coverup. Dr. Christopher Exley, aluminum expert, explains what cells carry the aluminum to the brain, then die after a few days, and leave it there.

  4. Of course you are preaching to the choir here as this was my first thought on the matter. Perhaps we have reached the tipping point for the amount these little bodies can tolerate especially when given MULTIPLE vaccines at once. With the discovery in 2016 of GLYPHOSATE in ALL vaccines by Samsell & Seneff; this should be made public & no vaccines should be given until this is fixed. Cuba has 95% vaccination rate but few side effects because they make their own shots without all the toxins, administered fewer and later [when brain barrier has fully formed]. However much like the early and live polio shots containing the Simian Virus 40 causing cancer that we were not told about because it would cause the program to collapse from lack of trust; they will never admit that this might be the cause.

  5. I was looking through old records of my son from 2009/2010 and had recorded at that time that the swine flu vaccine had caused, among others things, many cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

  6. So far, no one has documented whether or not the children who are affected by this “virus” or auto immune disease have just had a vaccine. That should be the first question asked and answered in these types of medical mysteries.

  7. Could it just be a particular batch of contaminated vaccine, particularly, the flu vaccine, since that is handed out like M & Ms at every CVS in the country. Has anyone investigated when these kids received their last vaccine vs. the onset of symptoms? I suppose we would never be told the truth if it were the vaccines at fault. It would ruin an entire business model.

  8. It does not take a genius to figure this out! Of course it is vaccine induced of course it is! There are smoking guns everywhere in this paradigm! People please stop speculating and stop taking the vaccine! Any vaccine!c

  9. They know! Just like in the 1950’s they knew that the Polio vaccine actually causing Polio and cancer-they continued to turn their heads. But, from my reading the scientific community that knew the Polio vaccine was causing Polio, they just warned their colleagues.

    What is most revealing is the CDC’s unwillingness to research the vaccine connection to AFM knowing what they know about the Polio vaccine. Just like the CDCs unwillingness to not look at the connection between vaccine and EV68. All of these are entreoviruses and if you read some of the unedited information on enteroviruses in general they all have the same symptoms. AFM/GBS. The symptoms are too similar to ignore. If they know the Flu shot can cause this, than other vaccines can cause it because the base ingredients are the same. The immune system takes a massive hit with every vaccine.

    Go back a few years to India. India was declared Polio free but AFM/paralysis is off the chart at the same time the county received it’s Polio Free status by the WHO. No one is looking at the connection because the increase in AFM is too closely linked to the distribution of the vaccine. The same thing is happening here. The medical community diagnosed the children with AFM because there wee too many to deny what what going on but in the US, they won’t do it out of fear of retaliation from the pharmaceutical company and the CDC. I wonder how many children have the same symptoms yet are being diagnosed with another illness? It happens with the measles vaccine all the time. If a child has had the measles vaccine and developed measles shortly after the are vaccinated OR they actually catch it from another child-if they had the vaccine the child is diagnosed as VLS or Viral Like Syndrome, not the measles despite the symptoms are exactly the same and the labs come back measles. I have 2 nieces who are Ped nurses and they see it all the time. Just like when a person gets the Flu shot and than within a few day actually gets an upper respiratory illness, they CDC calls it Influenza Like Illness. It may not be the Flu because they won’t test for it but the shot was the catalyst for the illness. Think about how many people you know who got the Flu shot and ended sick and their rationale is I didn’t get the shot in time.

    No one wants to say it in the media but: This is cause by vaccines just like polio was just like GBS/AFM, just like EV68. I just wonder how many more children have to be damaged before it stops.

  10. Yeah I watched stories of the E.R. on TV, and guy.comes in and couldn’t move his legs. They got him ok and said it was this disease. And his girl friend said he just got the flu shot. But the Drs. said oh no the flu shot is safe. Doesn’t link to this!!!

  11. If AFM is nothing to do with vaccination, why is Nancy Messonnier, who is head of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization (and Respiratory Diseases) the one chosen to comment on it? The CDC is obviously scrambling to avoid any linkage in the public’s mind between vaccination and AFM. They will only be able to control the narrative in the short term, though; there are many within the medical profession who have already raised the alarm about the connection between intramuscular injections (by far the most common reason for which is vaccination) and the subsequent development of what was historically known as “provocation polio”. Granted, the current outbreak may not be due to poliovirus, but the phenomenon of tissue injury due to recent vaccination (or intramuscular injection for any cause, including administration of antibiotics) and AFM is becoming clearer by the day. The current spike in AFM cases may be connected with an increase in wild-type EV-D68, another type of enterovirus. Tissue injury due to intramuscular injection is capable of introducing the virus deep into the tissues, and from there it can access the central nervous system, causing flaccid paralysis. Injecting children at a time when such a spike in wild-type enteroviruses is taking place may sharply increase the risk of subsequent AFM.

    Here is a very interesting article by Stephen Mawdsley, published in Lancet, about this connection: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61251-4/fulltext

    A retired pediatrician from Cooperstown, NY, recently wrote a response in the BMJ pointing out that the current alarming rise in AFM cases may indeed be due to a phenomenon similar to the old “provocation polio”. He rightly suggests that the taboo over saying anything remotely critical about vaccination policy may prevent the medical profession from vigorously and openly discussing the possibility that it may be wiser to curtail any and all unnecessary intramuscular injections, whether due to vaccinations or any other reason, while there is a spike in wild-type enteroviruses.

    Here is what he says: (https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h308/rr)

    “It is taboo to suggest a role for vaccines, but some old-timers remember “provocation poliomyelitis” or “provocation paralysis.” This is paralytic polio following intramuscular injections, typically with vaccines. PP was most convincingly documented by Austin Bradford Hill and J. Knowelden during the 1949 British polio epidemic when the risk of paralytic polio was increased 20-fold among children who had received the DPT injection (BMJ 2:1–July 1, 1950). Similar observations were made by Greenberg and colleagues in New York City; their literature review cited suspected cases as far back as 1921 (Am J Public Health 42:142–Feb.1952). I first became aware of PP 10 years ago while browsing through “Krugman’s Infectious Disease of Children” (page 128 of the 2004 edition).

    AFM may result from a direct virus attack on the spinal cord, or by an immune attack triggered by a virus, or by something else. If a polio-like virus is circulating in the U.S., the possibility of its provocation by one or more vaccines has to be considered.”

    1. Thank you, Louise, for these great references. It is the most plausible sounding explanation I’ve heard. The CDC wants us to believe it’s only the EV-D68 causing the AFM, when in reality it is most likely the EV-D68 virus in conjunction with receiving a vaccination (or intramuscular antibiotic) that is leading to the AFM. It’s so frustrating and sad that their fear over anything threatening their precious vaccine program is endangering children and slowing the correct advice that would halt this epidemic.

  12. The scientific and medical literature, AFM is a form of GBS. The reason why it’s a big mystery? Because if it’s GBS, the kids are entitled to compensation in the National Vaccine Injury Compenation Program and the HHS has no defense if the kid received a flu shot. Plain and simple. There is no mystery. The seasonality that CDC’s data show that plainly the load-your-kid-up-with-vaccines-in-time-for-school is temporally proximate to the surge in cases of AFM/GBS.

  13. I believe that Mr. Tam’s comments are satirical, i.e., he is satirizing the typical rationalizations of vaccine injury denialists, so the criticism of his comments is unjustified.

  14. I am not ruling out the vaccine connection, but another issue connected to vaccines is when we think we have erradicated an illness through vaccination only to have the disease mutate. Are we looking at a potentially new, mutated form of polio that has gotten around the vaccine? That’s a scary proposition that I strongly believe the US brainiacs in DC would hide to avoid panic and to keep people on the current vaccine program until they have a new vaccine.

  15. Thankyou Mr. G. – Mr. Tams comments are clearly satirical. I know because I have a similar sense of humor !. And it is obvious that Mr. Tam is an old vaccine injury watcher, because he knows exactly how the public health folks work to explain away EVERYTHING.

  16. What no one seems to think about is that the flu virus itself is more likely to cause GBS than the vaccine. I got a GBS-like illness (it was mild enough they didn’t suspect it until later, when it was too late to test) following an adenovirus infection. Nearly a year and a half out, I still have some numbness and sensation issues. I got my flu vaccine for the first time this year. I’d rather avoid the flu in the first place because GBS, as mild as mine was, is no joke. The slight risk from the vaccine is a calculated risk. That and the risk of dying from the flu is higher than the prospect of serious side-effects. Assuming it was vaccines causing AFM, the risk from the disease they are being vaccinated against is probably greater, we’re talking a really tiny number of cases, out of all the children being vaccinated. Less than 200 confirmed cases in millions of children. No one is denying that vaccines can cause problems, it’s just that the potential benefit is greater than the potential harm. Everything is a trade off and I’ll choose the option with the best odds. You are free to do otherwise. If I get GBS, oh well, it was still the most logical course of action.

    1. Your comments are interesting. I contracted GBS in 1990 and have been told not to get the flu vaccine. I keep debating because I didn’t get GBS from a vaccine. At the time, I was in what I thought was good shape. I had lost a lot of weight through a well-known diet program. I’m still wondering if I contracted GBS from the food since I was told that Campylobacter could have caused the GBS.

  17. My mom got GBS 30 years ago following a flu vaccination. She has been paralyzed from the waist down in the back of her legs ever since. She has been in extreme pain in her legs 24/7, since she acquired GBS. She has a folks catheter for the urine, and has to use enimas for poo. Forgive me, but I’d rather have the flu, even if it means I die from it. Who would want GBS, and live like that for 30 years. Do your research before you say you would rather have GBS.

  18. If the flu vaccine were working, MW, I would agree with you. But the flu vaccine in itself does not have much coverage. A few years ago a pharmacist tried to get me to have the shot, and she confessed that the previous year coverage was ZERO percent, miscalculated stands of virus used for the shot, and that year it ended up to be something like 15 percent. For that little coverage, I don’t want the risky shot. If the coverage were 75 or more, I might think about it. Then again, if everyone got the shot I don’t really need it.

  19. Maybe GBS has more than one trigger. I got it at 27 years old after having a mild stomach flu. Four others in my neighborhood have had it, Including my mother. It is not supposed to be hereditary. But what we all had in common was environment. We all lived in close proximity to a light bulb factory that made light bulbs containing Mercury. Mercury is a known cause of autoimmune problems. EPA would NOT investigate this. I avoid vaccines after having had this because I don’t want to trigger a reoccurrence. My doctor warned me in particular about the flu shot. The damage doesn’t end with a one time occurrence. I now have other health issues I believe stem from this but try and get a doctor to admit it. You are doing well if you can even find a doctor that knows what GBS is. They all have blinders on today and do not study outside their own specialty.

  20. I’m 52. Inhad the Measles in. 1990 when I was 24. I WAS vaccinated for it. I also had the mumps and chicken poxnwhen I was under 5.
    In 2000 I said yes to a tetanus vaccine. Less than 45 days later I developed Shingles. I had no stressful events, was in good health and was just 34 years old. I suffered with nerve damage and extreme skin pain for about 18 months. In 2009 I got the swine flu panic vaccine…then got the swine flu! .last summer I took my 12 year old son to the health clinic because school said he MUST have some more shots…..at 12? Sure enough we get there and they give him HPV vaccine and encephalitis vaccine of some type. Anyway they said he must come back in January…now….NO WAY. I saw a significant change in him in the months after he for the shots. decrease in energy, less active, lower metabolism,…an almost dumber down version of himself. Awful…I now see the reactions I have had in my life clearly and in my son. He has had 40 vaccines since birth! I had like 4 and one of them didn’t even work. It’s a scam run by elites for free money for their rich friends and the revolving door of government and private drug companies in their corrupt scam against all Americans. We are a blind population!

  21. CDC is warning hospitals of a huge number of Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AMF) this fall (sept-nov) in children of average age 5 and is instructing doctors to diagnose it as such although it appears with the same symptoms as Guillian-Barre Syndrome. The CDC is pushing to have covid vaccines available for children 5-11 this fall and have also doubled the order of the “new” flu shots for all this fall. I do not think this is a coincidence after watching a quick video with Dr Adrise on a Bitchute channel called “Blessed to Teach”. Also, check the doctor’s website, TheDrArdisshow.com

  22. This Fall 2021, CDC is warning hospitals of a potentially huge number of Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AMF) (Sept-Nov, 2021, Flu vaccination season) in children of average age 5 and is instructing doctors to diagnose it as such, although it presents with the same symptoms as Guillian-Barre Syndrome. The CDC is pushing to have covid vaccines available for children 5-11 this fall and have also doubled the order of the “new” flu shots available for all this fall. I do not think this is a coincidence after watching a quick video dated Aug 28, 2021 with Dr Adrise on a Bitchute channel called “Blessed to Teach”. Also, check the doctor’s website, TheDrArdisshow.com

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