NUNAVUT

A Gjoa Haven resident who developed a rare side effect from the H1N1 flu shot is seeking compensation from the federal government.

Charlie Cahill, now 60, received the H1N1 vaccine in Gjoa Haven on Nov. 26, 2009 but suffered a rare side effect: Guillain-Barre syndrome. He is now seeking compensation from the federal government. - photo courtesy of Charlie Cahill

Charlie Cahill, now 60, received the H1N1 flu shot in Gjoa Haven on Nov. 26, 2009. A week later he began experiencing weakness which got progressive worse until he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome in January 2010. The syndrome is a disorder where the immune system mistakenly attacks part of the nervous system, causing muscle weakness. His condition was later reclassified as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, according to medical information he provided. CIDP is characterized by increased weakness in the arms and legs and is considered the chronic counterpart of Guillain-Barre syndrome.

He described the last 18 months as "hell" for him and his family, being hospitalized four times as he stated he was completely paralyzed and receiving numerous treatments. He added it was equally devastating financially.

"(I went) from a healthy and active person, playing hockey, fishing and camping on the land every summer to not being able to walk and confined to a wheelchair or bedridden for most of the past year and a half," he stated via e-mail.

"I don't know if I'll ever be allowed to go back to work."

Cahill has lived in Gjoa Haven for 20 years, working as a general manager of a construction company that had to cancel contracts and hire 50 fewer Inuit beneficiaries in 2010 than in 2009, he stated via e-mail.

GlaxoSmithKline Inc.'s information booklet on the Arepanrix H1N1 vaccine, the one administered during the pandemic, lists Guillain-Barre syndrome as a "very rare" adverse reaction, meaning one case of the illness would be expected for every 10,000 doses given of the flu shot.

Cahill said he tried e-mailing Leona Aglukkaq, Nunavut MP and federal Health Minister at the time, in an effort to receive compensation.

"I would ask Leona and Health Canada to recognize that thousands of Canadians have been made sick, handicapped and some have died from the side effects of the 2009 swine flu vaccine, as the drug manufacturer stated they would," he stated via e-mail. "Everyone was in a panic and you (Leona) took what (vaccine) was available. That's water under the bridge and cannot be undone but don't abandon the people who suffered serious side effects from the vaccine. That makes a bad situation that much worse."

When Cahill received the vaccine in Gjoa Haven in November 2009, he said he doesn't recall getting information about the flu shot. He added this was his first flu shot.

Nunavut's Department of Health and Social Services referred Cahill's case to the Advisory Committee on Causality Assessment, said spokesman Gabriel Zarate.

The advisory committee reviews 60 to 70 cases a year, according to information from the Public Health Agency of Canada website.

Sylwia Gomes, a senior media relations advisor with the Public Health Agency of Canada, stated in an e-mail vaccine-injury compensation schemes are a provincial and territorial responsibility. She added following the H1N1 vaccination campaign, 43 people have reported contracting Guillain-Barre syndrome.

According to the agency, nearly 10 million doses of vaccine were given to Canadians in November 2009. In 2009, 390 people in Canada died from H1N1 influenza.

"It is not possible to determine whether the vaccine caused GBS in any individual case," she stated via email, adding concerns about the syndrome have not emerged in relation to the vaccine.

In Canada, 600 to 700 new cases of GBS are reported each year, she added. Since 1997, 79 cases of the syndrome have been reported following 12 annual influenza vaccine campaigns, a number that does not exceed the average annual rate of occurrence, stated Gomes.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.