Hello Everyone,

I wonder what do you think about flu vaccination. I've been vaccinated last 2 years (since the diagnosis), but have some doubts now due to recent discussions of the autoimmune component of PD. Trying to weigh in benefits against potential dis-balance / harm to the immune system caused by this intervention.

I want to paraphrase my question. I actually was interested if people get flu vaccine or not.

What we have heard is that if you get the flu vaccine, request one that is single dose and has no preservative in it. They have multiple dose containers that contain mercury that is not good for neurological problems (alot of people already have excess mercury in their body already.

My husband (PWP) does upon his Movement Disorder Specialist's insistence, though we make certain it is one of the "single dose" preparations and not from a multiple dose vial which uses mercury as a biostatic agent.

Sorry I never responded to your question, Lana. I never got the flu vaccine prior to my PD DX. Then, as Olsen said, my MDS advised me to get it, so I did. The single dose.

I've had no complications from it. I never had the flu prior to vaccine and haven't with it either. But, I've always wondered about the possible auto-immune function of PD protecting us from other illnesses. I haven't had one in many years, not even a mild cold. If it weren't for a progressive neurodegenerative brain disease, I would be doing just great.....haha.

Gary

Roughly in line with other people's experiences: I never had a flu jab before diagnosis; I've had them every year since, with no known side-effects.

I've not had the flu since having the shots. I only had the flu once before diagnosis. (Until I had the real thing, which was qualitatively different from anything that I'd had previously, I thought wrongly that I'd had the flu on an almost annual basis). That was approximately 15 years before diagnosis.

My Parkinson's nurse is keen that PwP get the jab because she reckons that getting the flu can lead to a step change in PD symptoms.

Rohn and Catlin report [1]:

"We present immunohistochemical data indicating the presence of influenza A virus within the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) from postmortem PD brain sections. ... The presence of influenza A virus together with macrophages and T-lymphocytes may contribute to the neuroinflammation associated with this disease."

A study by Smeyne, funded by MJFF reports [2]:

"Our results suggest that a pandemic H5N1 pathogen, or other neurotropic influenza virus, could initiate CNS disorders of protein aggregation including Parkinson’s disease."

[As an aside, given the weight of evidence that alpha-synuclein misfolding is implicated in the pathogenesis of PD, nowadays before commenting on whether anything, let's call it X, is associated with PD, I usually do a sanity check to see if there is any evidence that X and alpha-synuclein are associated.]

Reference:

[1] Rohn TT, Catlin LW (2011) Immunolocalization of Influenza A Virus and Markers of Inflammation in the Human Parkinson's Disease Brain. PLoS ONE 6(5): e20495. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020495
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%...l.pone.0020495

[2] Smeyne R
https://www.michaeljfox.org/foundati...p?grant_id=500

John

Thank you All for sharing, and Johnt for excellent references.
Got my single dose today

First, any vaccine is only as good as the number of participants. Even if your vaccine is a different strain than the type going around, the vaccine could lessen the seriousness of your strain should you get it.

Second, be certain you are not allergic to the assay used I.e., what the culture is grown in, such as eggs.

Third, make sure you are not sick when you receive the injection. You don't want to put anything foreign into an already compromised body.

Finally, people with a Neurological illness should take the injected "dead" virus, never the live virus delivered nasally

Source: two nurse anesthetist and a pharm rep (my kids)