Taiwanese woman in ICU nine days after flu vaccination
CECC to investigate another suspected flu shot illness after woman lost sense of touch and taste
By Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2020/10/31 17:13
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A resident of Keelung was hospitalized this week after it was suspected she suffered from the side effects of the government-funded influenza vaccine she had received nine days earlier.
According to CNA, the 50-year-old Taiwanese woman surnamed Li (李) is currently intubated in an intensive care unit at the Keelung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital after experiencing numbness in her body since Oct. 24, nine days after being vaccinated against the flu. Although doctors had associated her symptoms with the rare Guillain-Barre syndrome, they said her loss of taste is uncommon in patients with the disease.
Speaking to the media, Li's son said his mother started to experience tingling in her body over the weekend and eventually lost the ability to swallow due to soreness in her throat. He said her condition continued to worsen and that she became unable to breathe on her own and had to rely on a ventilator on Thursday (Oct. 29).
Li's son said his mother has lost her sense of touch and could only express her thoughts by nodding or shaking her head. He said she does not have any chronic diseases and that he strongly suspects her respiratory symptoms are linked to the vaccination.
In reaction to the incident, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) Spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said Saturday (Oct. 31) that officials have yet to identify the cause of Li's illness. He said about nine Guillain-Barre syndrome cases are reported in Taiwan every week, and that multiple virus tests will be needed to determine the connection between Li's case and the flu vaccine.
Chuang also made a reference to a similar case that was reported in Taichung last week and said both patients had received Vaxigrip Tetra vaccine produced by the French company Sanofi. However, he said their flu shots were of different batches and that only one other individual has reported serious side effects after receiving the Sanofi-made vaccine, reported ETtoday.
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4042169