Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) is a rare but serious autoimmune disorder. In AIDP, the immune system attacks peripheral nerves, causing progressive body weakness. The weakness happens because the nerves outside the spinal cord and the brain get inflamed, cutting signal transmission to the muscle.
While half of AIDP cases happen after a viral or bacterial infection, in rare cases, it happens because of vaccine injury. If your AIDP is vaccine-related, consult a vaccine injury attorney to help you leverage the federal program that compensates vaccine injury victims.
Here’s what you need to know about AIDP.
What’s The Connection Between Vaccination and Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy
The link between vaccination and AIDP was born of the nationwide swine flu vaccine in the United States in 1976. Studies tracked a rise in AIDP cases after people took the swine flu vaccine. The predominance was 1 per 100000 recipients.
Since then, the link between flu vaccine and AIDP has been variable.
According to the CDC, for every 1 million flu shorts, 1 or 2 people might develop AIDP. However, the study shows that patients are more likely to develop the condition from the flu itself rather than the flu vaccine. The risk is one AIDP per million vaccinations to 17 AIDP per one million influenza cases.
The same goes for the tetanus vaccine.
While the exact connection isn’t fully understood, most studies show that some vaccines occasionally trigger an immune response that damages the peripheral nerve, causing AIDP.
What Are The Underlying Causes of Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy
AIDP generally happens when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the peripheral nerve. Factors that might contribute to AIDP development include:
- Respiratory and gastrointestinal infection: The immune response to these infections may cross-react with peripheral nerves, leading to inflammation and demyelination. Most people with AIDP experience respiratory and gastrointestinal infections six weeks before developing AIDP symptoms.
- Bacteria infection: Campylobacter jejuni is the most common bacteria that triggers AIDP. A patient’s response to this bacteria can trigger damage to the peripheral nerve.
- Immune system abnormalities: People with abnormalities in their immune system might be more susceptible to developing AIDP.
- Vaccination: While rare, some people develop AIDP from tetanus and flu vaccination.
- Bone marrow transplant: A bone marrow transplant may cause graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), where the transplanted donor cells attack the recipient’s tissues. The immune response could extend to the peripheral nerves, contributing to AIDP.
Doctors haven’t established the exact cause of AIDP. But generally, it’s believed that the immune system’s response to an infection or vaccine may result in an inflammatory reaction that damages the myelin sheath surrounding the peripheral nerves.
Then, the demyelination disrupts nerve signals, leading to the AIDP symptoms like weakness, tingling, and numbness.
What Are The Symptoms and Severity of AIDP
The onset symptoms of AIDP often include muscle weakness or tingling in the feet and legs, which might spread to the face or arms. The weakness typically reaches its peak within a few days or weeks.
In a worst-case scenario, AIDP patients may lose all muscle movement and function, becoming temporarily paralyzed. After reaching maximum intensity, the severity of the symptoms may stabilize before the body starts to repair the damaged nerves.
The symptoms may include:
- Unsteady walking
- Difficulty controlling bladder or bowels
- Difficulty with facial and eye movement
- Severe pains that worsen in the evening
- A “needles and pins” feeling in the toes, wrists, fingers, or ankles
- Muscle weakness that starts in the legs and spreads to the upper body
If you develop the above symptoms, contact your doctor for immediate attention.
Treatment Options and Recovery from AIDP
AIDP has no cure. However, treatment neutralizes its severity and speeds up the recovery.
Two main medical treatments administered for AIDP include:
- Plasma exchange: During this procedure, physicians remove the blood from the patient and replace it with a substitute that lacks the antibodies that destroy the nerve cells.
- Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG): The doctor can also inject the patient with a high dose of protein that stops the immune attack on the nerve cells.
Besides the treatment option, most AIDP patients require supportive care such as monitoring vital signs, providing respiratory support if necessary, managing pain, and preventing complications like infections or blood clots.
After treatment, physical and occupational therapy can help manage and improve muscle weakness, coordination, and other functional abilities.
AIDP in Guillain-Barré Syndrome and Its Difference from CIDP
AIDP is a variant of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), which is a group of rare but often severe neurological disorders. In all GBS disorders, the body attacks peripheral nerves, leading to inflammation and demyelination.
The unique thing with AIDP is that the inflammation primarily affects the myelin sheath of the peripheral nerve. It has a sudden and rapid onset, with symptoms developing over days or weeks.
However, AIDP is a monophasic illness — occurring once. Most individuals experience improvement and recovery after treatment with immunoglobulins and plasma exchange.
Like AIDP, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a subtype of GBS. However, it has a more gradual onset that may develop over months or even years. Unlike AIDP, it’s chronic — its symptoms persist for years. Some patients experience relapse.
Besides IVIG and plasma exchange, CIDP might require additional treatment like corticosteroids and immunosuppressive medication.
What to Do if You Have Vaccine-Related AIDP?
The US has the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) that helps its citizens to get compensated for vaccine injuries like AIDP. If you were diagnosed with AIDP after getting a vaccine, consider consulting a vaccine attorney injury to help you navigate the entire process.
You’ll:
- Keep 100% of your claim (no contingency fee)
- Incur no legal cost to get a representation (the court will pay your legal fees)
- Leverage experienced personnel to walk you through the vaccine injury claim process
Get A Free Consultation with a Vaccine Injury Lawyer
At Jeffrey S. Pop & Associates, we represent individuals diagnosed with AIDP after vaccine shots nationwide. If you or your loved one has vaccine-triggered AIDP, consider getting in touch.
We’ll help determine if your case qualifies for compensation under the federal government’s program.
Call us today to discover your options or request a free consultation online.