[Myelopathy following influenza vaccination]

A healthy woman aged 56 was vaccinated for the second year in succession against influenza. Three days afterwards she developed a strange sensation in the legs and lower abdomen, accompanied by difficulties of urinating and defaecation. Motor strength and reflexes were normal at neurological examination. There was, however, an altered sensibility below the dermatome T7. Additional investigations were all normal, and the diagnosis of myelopathy after influenza vaccination was made. Over six months there was gradual amelioration.