Anomalous mutants of Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with the COVID vaccine

Two reports detail cases of abnormal mutations in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) associated with the AstraZeneca adenovirus vector COVID-19 vaccine.

One paper reviewed 4 cases from Nottingham, EnglandOther discussions 7 Cases from Community Health Centers in Kerala,India.Both published in Annual Neurology Report..

All cases occurred in people who were vaccinated 10 to 22 days ago.

GBS in these cases was characterized by “disproportionately frequent and severe bilateral facial paresis,” said Dr. Seward Lutkove, MD, Beth Israel Dikones Medical Center in Boston and Rebeccabete, New York University Global Public Health School. Dr. Nsky observed. York city, Invitation commentary..

In addition to these reports Vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) After Johnson & Johnson vaccination, “the relationship between this disease and these two adenoviral vector vaccines needs to be further investigated,” writes Rutkoe and Betensky.

GBS is an acquired demyelinating polyneuropathy that often begins in the lower extremities and rises over time with loss of reflexes. Some cases begin days or weeks after a respiratory or gastrointestinal viral infection. Facial weakness is not atypical, but is usually not a major finding compared to severe limb weakness and respiratory dysfunction.

“Coincidentally, shortly before the editorial department received these two manuscripts, the neurology service at the Beth Israel Dikones Medical Center in Boston exhibited significant bilateral facial weakness and moderate adenovirus weakness. A 58-year-old man with no previous medical history was admitted. A few weeks after receiving the J & J / Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, it is also an adenovirus with spiked protein embedded, similar to the AstraZeneca vaccine. ” Said.

A recent treatise also outlines case reports of women who developed GBS for 10 days. After receiving Johnson & Johnson Vaccine In a clinical trial in Boston.

“As the author of [J&J case report] Warning, it should be noted that these cases of GBS are simply assumed to be due to the vaccine, “Rutkove and Betensky wrote.

VAERS reports only data on vaccinated US people. Events related to AstraZeneca shots are not included. “Nevertheless, we identified reports of 279 (59 J & J, 97 Moderna, 121 Pfizer, 2 unknown) that explicitly specified GBS in the symptom field submitted by VAERS after COVID vaccination,” said Rutkoe and Betensky. It was.

Eight of these cases had marked bilateral facial weakness, paresis, or paralysis. Five of the eight cases were associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. There were also 24 reports of isolated bilateral facial weakness, paresis, or paralysis. Twelve of these were associated with the J & J vaccine.

“So far, this is well above expectations, given that Janssen vaccines account for 8% of all US vaccinations and 3.7% of all US vaccinations (so far).P<0.0001, accurate binomial test) ", the editor writes.

“The efficacy of this study is (1) differences between populations taking different vaccines that are not related to adverse events, (2) adverse events that occur immediately after vaccination, and (3) these by different manufacturers. It relies on the lack of reported differences in adverse events. To VAERS, “they continued. They said that VAERS reports were voluntary and that cases were often underreported.

In India’s report on AstraZeneca vaccination, six of the seven GBS cases were associated with women. All patients progressed to reflex paralysis. Six patients needed a ventilator due to respiratory failure.

“All seven cases have bilateral facial paresis, which usually occurs in less than 20% of unselected GBS cases,” co-authored with Bobby V. Malamat, MD, of Aster Medcity, Kerala. Is writing. “Four patients (57%) also developed other cranial neuropathy, such as sixth nerve palsy and trigeminal sensory neuropathy, which are rare in GBS reports from India (<5%). "

All four cases in the UK report involved men. “In our case, there was an 11-22 day interval between vaccination and the onset of symptoms,” wrote Jonathan Lees Evans, a neurologist at the NHS Trust at the University of Nottingham Hospital. “This will coincide with the expected period of maximum immune response to the vaccine.”

The frequency of GBS in these regions of India and the United Kingdom was estimated to be 1.4 to 10 times higher than expected.

“These patients showed neurological symptoms that were temporarily associated with vaccination, but no causal link could be inferred,” the British author wrote. However, if the links are causal, they suggested that “it may be due to a cross-reactive immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 peplomer and components of the peripheral immune system.”

“This slightly increased risk of atypical GBS, which is generally reversible and non-fatal, even if ultimately proven to be true, prevents infection and ultimately leads to this pandemic. It’s like a small price to pay to help get it done, “the editor concludes. “Still, we believe it is important for doctors to know about this possible but rare complication, but in the coming months and years millions of people will be in AstraZeneca or J & J. The spread of AstraZeneca or J & J vaccines should not be reduced as they will receive the vaccine. “