SA reports first death triggered by J&J Covid-19 shot
Global surveillance for Guillain Barre syndrome after vaccination is ongoing but it remains very rare: only four cases per million doses given
SA’s medicines regulator announced on Thursday that it had recorded the country’s first death caused by a Covid-19 vaccine, in a person who developed Guillain-Barre syndrome after receiving the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shot.
Guillain-Barre syndrome is an extremely rare disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the nervous system, causing muscle weakness and potential paralysis. It can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection, and was flagged by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2021 as a potential risk associated with the J&J vaccine. Cases range from mild to severe and are occasionally fatal...
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