Post COVID-19 vaccination Guillain-Barre syndrome: three cases

Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2022 Nov 30;18(5):2045153. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2022.2045153. Epub 2022 Mar 3.

Abstract

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy. In two-thirds of patients, it is preceded by an upper respiratory or gastrointestinal tract infection. Temporally associated cases of GBS following COVID-19 vaccination have been described with different COVID-19 vaccines. In this study, we report three cases of GBS patients following COVID-19 vaccine. Two of the studied patients received the Sinopharm vaccine and one patient received the AstraZeneca vaccine. All patients were diagnosed with acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) type of GBS, on nerve conduction studies. All three patients responded well to treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg). The association between COVID-19 vaccination and GBS is not well understood and more studies are needed to establish whether it is merely an association or a causal relationship.

Keywords: AstraZeneca; Coronavirus 2019; Guillain-Barre syndrome; Sinopharm; vaccine.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 Vaccines / adverse effects
  • COVID-19* / prevention & control
  • Guillain-Barre Syndrome* / chemically induced
  • Guillain-Barre Syndrome* / diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulins, Intravenous / therapeutic use
  • Vaccination / adverse effects

Substances

  • COVID-19 Vaccines
  • Immunoglobulins, Intravenous

Grants and funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.