Physicians Offer Expanded Warning about Guillain-Barré after COVID Jab

TUCSON, Ariz., July 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning about a three-to five-fold increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in persons who have received the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson or J&J) COVID-19 vaccine. A causal relationship has not been proved, and a similar signal has not been noted with the mRNA (Pfizer and Moderna) products.

Information about GBS has been added to the Janssen Fact Sheet. It states that symptoms usually begin within 42 days after the injection and can include weakness or tingling sensations; difficulty walking; difficulty with speaking, chewing, or swallowing; double vision; or difficulty with bladder or bowel function.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) points out that patients need to take these symptoms very seriously. They may increase in intensity over days, weeks, or even hours. In severe cases, the breathing muscles are paralyzed, and patients will asphyxiate without mechanical ventilation. Thus, during the first few weeks after the inoculation patients might not want to venture into places where rapid, advanced medical support is unavailable.

While 70 percent of patients eventually recover fully, 30 percent do not, and recovery may take years.

The other COVID products use a different technology, but all cause the vaccine recipient to make the viral spike protein, which attaches to receptors present in most tissues and can cross the blood-brain barrier. It may well cause damage resulting in neurological symptoms and disability.

According to the British Yellow Card system, which is more user friendly than the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), the Pfizer product was associated with 40 cases of GBS with two deaths, and 43,738 "nervous system disorders" with 43 deaths. With the Moderna product there was only one nonfatal case of GBS listed and 3,331 "nervous system disorders" with two deaths. 

Patients need to weigh their individual circumstances in deciding whether to take the COVID jab, and be alert to danger signals indicating the need for urgent evaluation, states AAPS.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has represented physicians in all specialties since 1943. Its motto is omnia pro aegroto, everything for the patient.

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)