A study published in the journal Scientific Reports claims that Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is linked to 17 different vaccines.
GBS is an autoimmune condition where a person’s immune system “mistakenly attacks part of their peripheral nervous system—the network of nerves that carries signals from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body,” according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. While some cases of GBS are considered to be mild, other cases cause “nearly devastating paralysis, leaving the person unable to breathe on their own.”
The study assessed cases of GBS recorded on the World Health Organization’s global database called VigiBase between 1967 and 2023, finding that 17 of the 19 vaccines analyzed are associated with GBS.
“Cumulative reports of vaccine-associated GBS have been increasing steadily over time, with a notable surge observed since the commencement of COVID-19 vaccine administration in 2020,” the study said. When compared to the other vaccines, however, GBS had the lowest association with the COVID-19 vaccines.
The vaccine with the greatest association to GBS is the influenza vaccine, according to the researchers, with the mean time of onset being 5.5 days post-inoculation.
“Efforts to address vaccine hesitancy have prompted research into the potential association between COVID-19 vaccines and GBS,” the study’s authors add. “However, scarcity of data, along with conflicting findings across studies have impeded the development of sufficient consensus.”
Despite claiming to link GBS to the vaccines, the study says that it is “important to note that studies have consistently shown a higher risk of GBS occurrence during SARS-CoV-2 and influenza infections compared to receiving the vaccines.”
Brian Hooker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for Children’s Health Defense, criticized the study’s conclusion that infection poses a greater risk of developing GBS than vaccination.
“The references in this paper regarding the incidence of GBS following influenza being four to seven times higher than that of vaccines all lead to one review paper by Greg Poland written in 2012,” Hooker said.
