New 258-Patient Analysis Confirms 'Neuromuscular Diseases Associated with COVID-19 Vaccines': Peer-Reviewed Journal 'BMC Neurology'
"[O]ften necessitates medical interventions."
A new peer-reviewed analysis of 258 patients published Monday in BMC Neurology has confirmed that neuromuscular diseases (NMD)—conditions affecting the nerves and muscles in the body—have “emerged as one of the main side effects of the COVID-19 vaccination.”
The study, titled “Neuromuscular diseases associated with COVID-19 vaccines: a systematic review and pooled analysis of 258 patients,” reviewed 258 NMD cases and “provides a comprehensive summary of the clinical features and outcomes of NMD associated with COVID-19 vaccination.”
One hundred and seventy-one (171) cases involved Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), 40 Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS), 22 Myasthenia Gravis (MG), 19 facial nerve palsy (FNP), 5 single fiber neuropathy, and 1 Tolosa-Hunt syndrome.
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare neurological disorder where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the nerves, leading to muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.
Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS) involves sudden and severe pain in the shoulder and arm, followed by muscle weakness and atrophy, usually affecting one side of the body.
Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a chronic autoimmune condition characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue, especially in the muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and swallowing.
Facial nerve palsy (FNP) is a disorder that results in temporary or permanent weakness or paralysis of the facial muscles, often on one side of the face.
Single fiber neuropathy is a rare condition affecting specific nerve fibers, leading to muscle weakness and sensory disturbances.
Tolosa-Hunt syndrome is a rare type of headache caused by inflammation of the area behind the eye, leading to pain, and sometimes affecting eye movements and vision.
Guillain-Barré syndrome and Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS) were the most commonly reported.
Most symptoms, linked to both mRNA- as well as vector-based COVID vaccines, appeared less than 2 weeks after vaccination.
The authors affirm that “COVID-19 vaccines might induce some NMDs,” the diseases representing “a significant side effect.”
The study authors also confirm a “wide range of side effects are reported worldwide shortly after vaccination” and that “their impact on the central and peripheral nervous systems often necessitates medical interventions.”
They emphasized the “increasing” occurrence of case series/reports of NMD “following COVID-19 vaccination.”
The study noted that “death occurred in 3 out of 123 GBS patients.”
Moreover, two out of 14 MG patients developed a myasthenic crisis, which is a severe complication of myasthenia gravis marked by increased muscle weakness, especially in muscles controlling breathing, potentially leading to respiratory failure and the need for intubation and mechanical ventilation.
The authors were unable to determine the exact mechanism by which vaccines induce neuromuscular diseases.
However, they speculate that vaccines might trigger an autoimmune response if their components resemble the body’s own molecules, causing the immune system to mistakenly attack its own tissues.
“[T]he immunization processes following the vaccines could provoke an autoimmune response by establishing an inflammatory environment,” the authors hypothesize. “If vaccine antigens mimic self-antigens, the immune response could cross-react with self-antigens, leading to an autoimmune reaction (Molecular mimicry mechanism).”
It could be that the body’s reaction to vaccine components can unintentionally activate immune cells that attack the body’s own tissues, either due to inflammation caused by the vaccine (bystander effect) or by exposing new self-antigens in damaged tissues (epitope spreading).
“Furthermore, during immune responses to vaccine antigens, inflammatory signals can activate self-reactive T cells involved in the autoimmune processes (Bystander effect mechanism),” the study reads. “Also, the activation of self-reactive T cells could be triggered via self-antigens released upon self-tissue damage following inflammatory cascade (Epitope spreading mechanism). Vaccines containing dsRNA or its analogs can also overexpress IFN-b, a key factor in thymic events leading to MG.”
The study authors conclude by reaffirming the link between coronavirus vaccines and neuromuscular diseases.
“Based on our comprehensive literature review, COVID-19 vaccines might induce some neuromuscular diseases,” they write. “These cases mainly occurred after administering the most frequently used COVID-19 vaccines.”
Significantly, the study acknowledges the public’s reluctance to receive the coronavirus jab, citing the “extraordinary speed of vaccine production” and the “waiver of essential testing steps,” which have “raised hesitancy regarding the vaccines’ safety.”