Girl Paralysed And Blind After Receiving Flu Shot, Family Say

A family in Texas say that their 9-year-old daughter has gone blind and become paralysed after receiving a routine flu shot recently. 

Brianna Browning says her daughter hasn’t been able to move her body for two weeks, and that the fourth-grader has been hospitalised since October 17th, two days after receiving the flu vaccine.

Fox59.com reports:

Eight hours later, the girl began profusely vomiting, which continued into Friday. On Saturday, the girl was reportedly paralyzed from the waist down, blind and seemed to have what appeared to be a seizure, according to the report.

The girl’s parents said doctors don’t yet know what happened or why, but the parents believe it was caused by the flu vaccine.

Dr. Umair Shah, the executive director of Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, has not treated Brianna, but says flu shots are extremely safe and encourages those over 6 months to get the vaccine. Reactions can occur, but they are mostly mild. There have been cases of more severe reactions, but those are rare.

Brianna’s parents believe she has fallen in that rare group.