2023-10-11 12:59:39
The AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines are associated with a risk of developing the disease, but not those developed by Pfizer, widely used in France, according to a study.
Certain anti-Covid vaccines increase the risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome, but not that of Pfizer, now almost exclusively used in France, according to a study relayed Wednesday October 11 by the French health authorities. “Messenger RNA vaccines do not increase the risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome, unlike adenoviral vector vaccines», announced in a joint press release the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) and Health Insurance.
Under their aegis, researchers carried out a study published in early October in the journal Neurology and which attests that vaccination by messenger RNA – which includes the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines – is not associated with a risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome.
«Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare disease in which the immune system attacks peripheral nerves, which can lead to pain, numbness, muscle weakness, or difficulty walking.», remind the agencies. “In rare cases, the disease can cause serious neurological sequelae, respiratory failure and lead to death.» Isolated cases of this syndrome had been associated with having been vaccinated with AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines, known as adenovirus vaccines and used for a time in French vaccination campaigns before being abandoned in favor of those with messenger RNA, either Moderna and Pfizer.
A risk associated with AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines
The study relayed on Wednesday sought to assess this risk by retrospectively comparing the vaccination situation of some 2,000 people hospitalized for this syndrome between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2022. It emerges that vaccination by AstraZeneca and Janssen is indeed associated with a more than doubled risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome. However, researchers point out that this risk is significantly higher in the event of coronavirus infection.
On the other hand, “there was no statistically significant increase in the risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome after administration of messenger RNA vaccines», concludes the study. “This is reassuring in a context where messenger RNA serves as a basis for booster vaccination, immediately and in the future.», she adds. In France, in particular, it is the Pfizer vaccine which is used almost exclusively in the campaign launched this fall by the health authorities. Other countries, particularly developing countries, however, continue to widely use adenovirus vaccines, in particular AstraZeneca.
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