Guillain-Barré syndrome data

Possible safety signals at specific age groups

Hebrew version לגירסה עברית

The following data was obtained from Maccabi Health Fund (2.5M members as of 2022) via a Freedom Of Information Act request.

Age group 0-20

Note: Rate per 100k members was calculated using National Insurance Institute data. The pop. size used for calculation was age groups 0-15, due to the age group division of the NII. This pop. size error is negligible when analyzing trends and peaks.

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Age group 20-40

Note: Rate per Note: Rate per 100k members was calculated using National Insurance Institute data. The pop. size used for calculation was age groups 25-45, due to the age group division of the NII. This pop. size error is negligible when analyzing trends and peaks.

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Age group 40-60

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Age group 60-80

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Age group 80+

Discussion

The signals we found may not be as decisive as other data we had explored in the past (such as PE, mortality, cardiac arrests), and GBS is quite rare; Nevertheless, certain age groups (20-40, 40-60) exhibit concerning local peaks, temporally close to vaccine approval dates, and the 20-40 age group exhibits a drastic change in the yearly trend (2017-2020 constant decline, 2021-2023 constant rise, also based on 2023 Q1 & Q2 data).

Alarming GBS signals also appeared in the UK and recently in Peru. Studies already demonstrated a link between Astra-Zeneca and J&J (non-mRNA) vaccines and GBS. There is also a VAERS analysis for GBS in the US. Currently GBS is not considered an adverse event of Pfizer’s BNT162b2 vaccine.

GBS is also associated with Covid-19. In Israel, 2020 was a year with close to 500,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases (most probably several times more undiscovered infections), yet the data we received shows no significant rise in GBS cases.

It is imperative to conduct further, in-depth research using Israel’s excellent healthcare databases to refute the possibility of a causal relation between Pfizer’s vaccine and GBS, for two reasons:

a. Given the negligent risk of young, healthy individuals from Covid-19, the risk-benefit tradeoff must be carefully re-assessed.

b. If such a link does exist, it is important to acknowledge it so that patients could be better supported and compensated, and further research might offer specific treatment.

This FOIA request was filed after hearing about a young health worker who got diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome post-vaccination. She has been struggling with the disease for over two years.