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November 18, 2002
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"5 Suffered Muscle-Wasting Disease After Flu Vaccination"
Japan Economics Newswire
(norman.lib.uconn.edu/NewSpirit/FullText/GetDescription.cfm?ID=6281)
(11/17/02)
Japan's Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has ordered pharmaceutical companies making flu vaccines to clearly state that Guillain-Barre syndrome--a progressive muscle weakness disorder--is a possible adverse effect of the vaccines. Five people developed the condition after receiving the flu vaccine between January 2000 and April 2002, officials said Sunday. The ministry said that two of the cases were reported in 2000, while the other three were reported between December 2001 and April 2002. According to the ministry, there were no reports in Japan prior to 1999 regarding the development of Guillain-Barre syndrome after flu vaccination.
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