Reply To: Warning about the Shingrix vaccine

Yes, given what we know about GBS, it is not that much of a surprise. And yes, there was a shingles vaccine back in 2014 when that discussion took place here. But the newer Shingrix vaccine wasn’t even approved until 2017. I’ve always had my suspicions that the specific combo played a role in my GBS.

What’s new about this is this is that it’s the first time (I think) that any official health-related agency has publicly acknowledged the possibility/likelihood of a link between the Shingrix vaccine and GBS. Of course it is carefully worded; apparently there’s enough of a correlation to issue a warning. I’m not sure they would ever acknowledge a causal relationship — I don’t think they’ve done that even for the flu vaccine, have they?

FDA has determined that the results of this observational study show an association of GBS with Shingrix, but that available evidence is insufficient to establish a causal relationship.