Public school nurses give swine flu vaccine to kids without parents' OK, sends child to hospital

New York Daily News.com ^ | 10-30-09 | Ben Chapman and Rachel Monahan

[444Flyer]

School nurses mistakenly gave the swine flu vaccine to two students who didn't sign up for it - including a Brooklyn girl with epilepsy who wound up in the hospital.

"I was outraged," Naomi Troy, 26, told the Daily News after her 6-year-old daughter, Nikiyah Torres-Pierre, had a possible allergic reaction to the shot.

Officials at Public School 335 in Crown Heights called an ambulance to take Nikiyah to SUNY Downstate Medical Center when she fell ill following the arm jab.

"My stomach was hurting, and I was itching," Nikiyah said after she was released from the hospital.

The snafu and a similar mixup at a Staten Island school came in the first days of the city's in-school H1N1 vaccination program.

City officials have stressed the vaccine is safe and urged parents to sign up for it - though less than half have sent in permission slips.

Troy was waiting for advice from her family doctor on whether Nikiyah should get the shot since she takes medicine to control her epilepsy.

[xarmydog]

If she has an aversion to eggs,I.E.,allergic to chicken eggs, which is an integral part of the process of which they are made,the flu shot could have serious consequences.
I would speculate that not many parents have been asked if their children were allergic to eggs,or anything to do with a chicken.
My last two trips to the VA,when they asked if I would like a shot,I declined.The Secretaries also declined to have the shots.Many health care workers will so as not to spill the apple cart,but many wont.
A shot for me who is allergic to chickens and egg embryos,would kill me.
I learned that in the early seventies in BOOT CAMP!
I believe it is a strain of a flu that chicken noodle soup and an aspirin could cure.
The statistics show how many have died,yet they do not show what the average of deaths over the years from the common flu.I believe it is below many of our other scare swine flu.

[mlizzy]

I got the swine flu vaccination last Wednesday and have been sick ever since. Fatigue, congestion and painfully sore throat. First time I ever got the flu shot and probably the last.

Sorry you don't feel very well. What did your doctor give you for the sore throat and other symptoms? Did you get the shot with thimerosal (mercury-based preservative) or without?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Obviously the mother was planning to have the girl get the vaccination unless her doctor nixed it, or she wouldn’t have put in the inquiry to the doctor.

[444Flyer]

I had a Tetanus booster a couple years back that nearly put me in the hospital. My Doc ruled it as one of two things, either a Staph infection (they treated it with antibiotics just in case) at the inoculation site (I received the shot at a clinic as I needed it over the weekend) or a massive allergic reaction to the shot itself. Either way they warned me never to have another Tetanus booster because if it was indeed an allergic reaction, my next exposure could be worse or even deadly.

When you instruct someone NOT to give you a shot let alone your child, it is serious business. Especially in the case of a pre-existing condition.

[jerri]

What did your doctor give you for the sore throat and other symptoms? Did you get the shot with thimerosal (mercury-based preservative) or without?

It did not contain thimerosal. I got the shot at the Kaiser clinic and haven't contacted my doctor about it. I have been taking Nyquil and using nasal spray.

[Tunehead54]

Bookmark bump! Thanks! ;-)

[maryz]

I would much prefer the onus to be on the parent if something goes wrong.

I think the receptionist "giving" medication means (usually at least!) cases in which the kid is on prescription medication to be taken throughout the day -- the parents can either keep the kid home or give the appropriate number of doses and instructions to the school.

[mysterio]

I got the swine flu vaccination last Wednesday and have been sick ever since.

You didn't get the flu from the shot.

[xkaydet65]

Bet the trial lawyers are lining up at their door for this one.*****

Just on the negligence factor, without real damages we’re looking at 7 figures. Actually the parents risk a danger in bringing a suit in NYC. A judge might rule for the city on the grounds that the child was better off getting the flu shot. Seeing as Bloomberg is creating a fascist nanny state in NYC I would not be surprised if he directs his Corporation Counsel to zealously defend the city and offer no settlement, hoping to get a favorable nanny ruling.

[MHGinTN]

So you think your generation was protect at school? ... HAh! When I was riding the school bus, my older brother regularly brought his rifle to school on the bus, with a 50 round box of ammo for Rifle Team practice. Of course, we lived in Tennessee, Alvin York’s state.

[ksen]

Obviously the mother was planning to have the girl get the vaccination unless her doctor nixed it, or she wouldn’t have put in the inquiry to the doctor.

Was there a permission slip on file from the parent to allow the child to be inoculated?

No?

Then it doesn't matter what some internet poster guesses the mother's intentions were. No permission slip, no shot. How hard should that be to follow?

With the handle "Government Shrinker" I would have thought you'd be a little more upset at a government worker overstepping their authority.

[thefactor]

i’m still trying to figure out how the girl got her last name.

[brytlea]

Yes, that’s exactly what it was, however if something goes wrong, I think the parent should be there. I know it is an inconvenience, however the kids don’t belong to the school, and the school has no business medicating them. The receptionist had no medical training. Of course, teachers are also mandated to do things we are not trained to do. And if we get it wrong, we are in BIG TROUBLE.

[Freedom2specul8]

Why schools should NOT be clinics for convenience!!

[Cheryllynn]

Schools should stick to teaching.

[brytlea]

I agree. When a non-medical professional is handing out medications (or overseeing injections) for large numbers of kids there are bound to be mistakes made.

[khnyny]

Vaccines are immune from lawsuits. (pun intended)

[chris_bdba]

Wonder if she got the shot which is supposely safe for kids that age or if she went with the easier nasal one that is not safe for kids under the age of 6yo? The nasal one is a live virus the shot isn’t.