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Epidemic or Artifact?

Leonard T. Kurland, MD, DrPH; Wigbert C. Wiederholt, MD; LTC James W. Kirkpatrick, MC, USA; LCDR H. Gilbert Potter, MC, USN

Arch Neurol. 1985;42(11):1089-1090.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Physicians have generally accepted as fact that the (A-New Jersey-76) swine influenza vaccine administered to 45 million persons in the United States between Oct 1 and Dec 16,1976, was causally associated with an increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Yet, the only substantive evidence for that association is a single study based on data collected by health officers during a hectic and highly publicized program that began shortly before the moratorium on the immunizations on Dec 16, 1976, and continued for six weeks until Jan 31, 1977.

The foundation for the thousands of claims against the US government for compensation for GBS and other disorders is the report by Schonberger et al that describes the epidemiologic features of 1,100 cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as GBS by the state and territorial health officers.¹ Of the 1,100 cases, all but two were "certified" by the CDC as . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Lt Col Page Armstrong, MC, USAF

From the Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minn (Dr Kurland); the Department of Neurosciences, University of California-San Diego (Dr Wiederholt); the Office of the Surgeon General, US Army, Washington, DC (Dr Kirkpatrick); US Navy Environmental Health Center, Naval Station, Norfolk, Va (Dr Potter); and the US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio, Tex (Dr Armstrong).

Footnotes
Accepted for publication May 13, 1985.

The views expressed by the participants in the military services represent their own opinions and should not be construed as an official position of the Department of Defense.

Reprint requests to Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 (Dr Kurland).

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