for those who wanted to know - ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an immune mediated disease of the brain.[1][2][3] It usually occurs following a viral infection but may appear following vaccination, bacterial or parasitic infection, or even appear spontaneously. As it involves autoimmune demyelination, it is similar to multiple sclerosis, and is considered part of the Multiple sclerosis borderline[4][5] diseases. The incidence rate is about 8 per 1,000,000 people per year.[6]. Although it occurs in all ages, most reported cases are in children and adolescents, with the average age around 5 to 8 years old.[7][8][9] The mortality rate may be as high as 5%, full recovery is seen in 50 to 75% of cases, while up to 70 to 90% recover with some minor residual disability.[10] The average time to recover is one to six months.

ADEM produces multiple inflammatory lesions in the brain and spinal cord, particularly in the white matter. Usually these are found in the subcortical and central white matter and cortical gray-white junction of both cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum, brainstem, and spinal cord,[11] but periventricular white matter and gray matter of the cortex, thalami and basal ganglia may also be involved.

When the patient suffers more than one demyelinating episode, it is called Recurrent disseminated encephalomyelitis[12] or Multiphasic disseminated encephalomyelitis[13](MDEM).


wikipedia.com

Message edited 10/11/2009 8:42:08 AM.

Re: ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

Can I ask why you posted this?

Re: ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

im pretty sure she posted it in response to this

Re: ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

Re: ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

Posted by Goobster

Posted by an9elic

im pretty sure she posted it in response to this

I didn't see that thread. HOW unfair and horrific.

One of the reasons I haven't given my DD any flu shots...and I had a feeling this was why she posted...re the flu shot.

for that family

Does anyone know if it was the swine flu or reg flu shot? Had he ever had it before? Etc?

Re: ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

Re: for those who wanted to know - ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

Posted by headoverheels

Posted by Goobster

Can I ask why you posted this?

sorry! i was in a rush and meant to clarify. someone asked so i looked it up (because i didn't know either) and thought others might want to know too. sorry for not being more clear. it's a scary thing, and i'd never even heard of it!

Re: for those who wanted to know - ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

Thank you for the information.

Re: for those who wanted to know - ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

Thanks so much for posting this, as I was curious but didnt want to ask in the other thread or deter it from its original purpose.

Re: for those who wanted to know - ADEM (Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)

What happened to that little boy is truly heartbreaking.

However, wikipedia is not a reputable source.

I found a more reputable source and in short, what it says is that the only things this illness has been linked for sure to is a measles infection or a rabies vaccination.

All other illnesses, vaccinations, etc. are speculation, and there is not enough epidemiological evidence to support these suspicions.



Prototypical illness arises after acute measles infection or rabies vaccine administration. Uncertainty regarding the diagnosis occurs when patients with clinical features of ADEM occur in the background of viral infections or vaccine administration not significantly linked with the syndrome by epidemiological criteria. (See "Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis in children").



Neurologic sequelae complicate 1 in 400 to 1 in 1000 cases of measles infection . Multiple subgroups of patients have been described, including those with diffuse cerebral features, focal or multifocal cerebral findings, cerebellar dysfunction, and spinal cord abnormalities; patients do not develop peripheral nerve damage or relapses of disease.



In addition to measles, a wide array of other viral and bacterial infections have tentatively been associated with ADEM, including rubella, mumps, herpes zoster, herpes simplex, influenza, Epstein-Barr virus, coxsackievirus, Borrelia burgdorferi, Mycoplasma, and Leptospira. Acute encephalomyelitis occurring in the background of nonspecific viral illness is difficult to diagnose with certainty and to distinguish from episodes of MS.



The occurrence of neuroparalytic accidents as a consequence of the Pasteur rabies vaccine prepared from spinal cords of rabbits inoculated with fixed rabies virus was recorded soon after introduction of the treatment: the incidence of encephalomyelitis associated with the original Pasteur rabies vaccine prepared in rabbit brain has been estimated at 1 per 3,000 to 35,000 vaccinations. Similar neurologic complications were observed as a consequence of the Jenner vaccine used for the prevention of smallpox. Postvaccination ADEM does not appear to be due to the direct cytopathic effects of the virus, but rather to immune-mediated mechanisms directed against specific components of the CNS [78].



ADEM also has been associated with other vaccines, including pertussis, rubella, diphtheria, and measles. The association between influenza vaccination, particularly the swine flu vaccine, and ADEM has been the subject of medicolegal controversy.



ADEM has been reported after the administration of some drugs. These drugs include sulfonamides and para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS)/streptomycin.



All of these associations can only be substantiated by strong epidemiological evidence or by the development of a pathognomonic laboratory finding for ADEM. However, neither of these circumstances currently exists.


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