Hep C caused by military air-injected immunizations

[bronzestar]

I want to know if anyone knows of persons that may have had air-injected immunizations while i the military (vietnam era)? They line up one by one and get hit with the same air-injected gun, everyone had blood running down their arm. I firmly believe that's where I first came in contact with the virus but it could be a number of other things too.

[ovey_1]

There is protocol  for such an event. For instance when blood is splats on the head of the device they are supposed to change the head. I've seen with my own eye’s  that they didn't have a change that fit and I witnessed a Col. order the man giving the shots to just wipe of the head and put it back on. I also witnessed where they had a ped-0-jet brake down and they resorted to using the same syringe’s  to every body left. They would briefly clean the syringe’s  in a clear solution and reload it for the next trainee. But the most alarming thing I recalled was in the reception station where they reused the finger stick device on several at a time. I’m certain these incidents where very wide spread and frequent. I strongly believe if  these events were to go public it would make a story as big as the Agent Orange story.

[CD8]

Hi -  I'm not a vet.  I landed on this site via researching HepC+gun inoculation.  Am female born in Washington State in 1957.  Airgun inoculated in grade school.  Diagnosed with HepC in 1999.  These posts I've read are compelling.  I don't know how I got this... I wasn't an angel in the 80s.  May have been straw related.  Treatment is priority, but as a society, figuring out how this happened is also priority so we can attempt not to repeat the scenario thereby preventing future generations this type of tragedy.  If it were mainly illegal drug use as cause, why is there a definite age boundary tied to it?  Like born between 1947 and 1965 (or whatever the range)?  So, people that were born after 1965 and are IV or straw users aren't susceptible to this disease?  Why would that be?  It seems it isn't drug use that caused this for the boomers because illegal drug use is still rampant with the same amount of needle and straw sharing going on but users born after 1965 don't have to bother to get tested?  wtf?  There are some mysteriously deep holes in this line of logic.  Listing illegal drug use as the main cause of contracting HepC places a heavy burden of unnecessary depression on victims.  Most of use are so consumed with trying to find treatment for the disease we cannot even begin to address the mental consequences of living with this disease and the shame stygma that is instantly placed on us at the time of diagnosis or thereafter.  Let alone not having any energy to commit to this matter.  It's been all I can do these past years to work 40 hours a week, makes chronic fatigue syndrome look like a walk in the park.

Mistakes happen, we have to carry on.  I'm not a government basher, and am a government employee.  It's normal human instincts to want to know how and why things happen.  Questions don't take take away from the event and may shed light on the situation for all.

In Oct 2012 I began my third attempt at therapy after 2 previous failures (non-responsive), once in 1999 and once in 2006.  This time it's the Triple therapy through a Seattle hospital participating in a worldwide research study.  I've been negative since week 4 of the treatment.  Have 9 weeks to go.  Would be rare at this point not to remain virus free but no one can predict the future.  In 2006 my first biopsy showed level one liver scarring.  In 2012 second biopsy showed level 4 cirrhosis.  Pretty scary stuff.

Good luck to you all!  I feel your pain, fear and frustration.  Thank you to all the Vets for your service.  

[pricem]

I was in the army 74-77 we were given swine flu shot with air vacination,
I now have hepatitis C, I don't know how long I have had it.
Mary55

[pricem]

I just found out today I have a positive test for hepatitus C
I got a swine flu shot in the army I was in from 74-77
and received a mandatory shot with a air gun

[medic54]

Certainly some truth in what you say, and as a paramedic I can attest that IVDUsers often lie to medical personnel... and not just out of fear of jail or the permanent record deal.. but detox/ other medical benefits/ other care disqualification... drug seekers aren't given narcs. But, if you were there in Basic Training in 1972, you would know. It was a real cattle-shoot operation. I had 3 blood trails on each deltoid. And when I stepped forward, they went off on the guy behind me in a second or two.. at best a wipe off sanitation of the guns contact surface..certainly not sterilization. Even then as an 18 y/o infantry recruit I knew it was all wrong. But people who 'just said no' to the Army back then were quart martialed. And the mil knows it was all wrong, that's why they DC'd the air guns... but sadly they knew all along but just didn't give a damn about the cattle.

[AvantiAvanti]

I am a woman and I went to bootcamp in Fort Jackson, SC, US Army, Vietnam Era, yes they used Air Guns on us. We all lined up and received who knows how many vaccines that day. Docs on both sides giving them. I must have been lucky because I don't recall much blood, so the docs were taking their time with us, probably because we were at the tail end of the war era, early '74.