Positive Link Identified Between SARS-CoV-2 and Guillain-Barré

Oct 19, 2023

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2023 (HealthDay News) — There is a positive association for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), and a negative association for COVID-19 vaccination and GBS, according to a study published online Oct. 18 in Neurology.

Haya Bishara, from the Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, and colleagues examined the association between GBS and both SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccine in a nested case-control study conducted in a cohort of 3,193,951 patients aged ≥16 years without diagnosis of prior GBS. Subjects were followed for the occurrence of GBS from Jan. 1, 2021, until June 30, 2022. For each case of GBS, 10 randomly selected controls were matched on age and sex.

A total of 76 patients were diagnosed with GBS during follow-up and matched to 760 controls. The researchers identified a positive SARS-CoV-2 test in 11.8 and 2.4 percent of cases and controls, respectively. COVID-19 vaccine administration was detected in 10.5 and 17.9 percent of cases and controls, respectively. The odds ratios were 6.30 and 0.41 for GBS associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccine administration, respectively. Similar results were seen with exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccine administration in the previous four and eight weeks, although the results for COVID-19 vaccination at four weeks was not statistically significant.

“While Guillain-Barré is extremely rare, people should be aware that having a COVID infection can increase their risk of developing the disorder, and receiving an mRNA vaccine can decrease their risk,” coauthor Anat Arbel, M.D., also from the Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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