No Increase in GBS Seen After COVID-19 Vaccination in Adults

MONDAY, Oct. 17, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- There is an increase in the reporting rate of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) after COVID-19 vaccination, but the rate is within the incidence range for the general population, according to a study published online Sept. 22 in Vaccine.

Mustafa Jaffry, from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, and colleagues compared the reporting rate of adult GBS after COVID-19 vaccination to the reporting rate after other vaccinations during the same time period and during control time periods.

The researchers observed a significantly higher reporting rate of GBS after COVID-19 vaccination than after influenza and other vaccinations (49.7, 0.19, and 0.16 per 10 million, respectively). The reporting rate for GBS was within the general population incidence range. A significant difference in the reporting rate of GBS after COVID-19 vaccination was seen between the risk period and control period using self-controlled and case-centered analyses. Within six weeks of COVID-19 vaccination, there were an estimated 0.7 to 1.7 per million excess reports of GBS. Associations for worse outcome were seen for female gender and age 18 to 44 years in a machine learning model. There was no association between the onset interval of GBS and prognosis.

"This study seeks to add to the body of knowledge surrounding the association between COVID-19 vaccination and GBS, so that health care providers may explain the risk/benefit ratio to patients to aid adherence to vaccination guidelines," the authors write.

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