My anti-vaxxer in-laws didn't get their flu shots...UPDATE

[KPN]

134. My wife and I never get the flu shot, nor do

any of our 3 children. Not because we are anti-vaxxers or because we don’t care about society’s health overall. It’s a personal health decision base on personal experience with a syndrome called GBS — Guillaine-Barre Syndrome which affected our oldest when he was 12 and was rather debilitating for a couple of years. He basically was paralyzed for several months and was at high risk of losing his life in its’ early stages.

His GBS presented immediately following a minor bout with a flu. In researching GBS, we learned that along with post-pregnancy, and post flu shot are the primary triggering events. Since our son’s episode, we have known personally three other people (all adults) who have been afflicted with GBS following a flu shot. We made the decision to forego flu shots following my son’s episode 25 years ago based on discussions with his neurologist and our family practitioner who advised there was a risk factor that some individuals appear predisposed to and that it could well be a genetic trait related to the immune-system.

For some, there may be a legitimate reason to forego some vaccines. I sometimes think man’s greatest affliction is the one- size fits all mentality that society so frequently demonstrates in a immense diversity of ways.