Warning about the Shingrix vaccine

    • July 12, 2021 at 8:51 pm

      I don’t think I saw this anywhere, including this site, until today, even though it was issued in March 2021:

      FDA Requires a Warning about Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) be Included in the Prescribing Information for Shingrix

      I personally find this particularly interesting, because I contracted GBS after getting both the flu and shingrix vaccines at the same time. One might even hypothesize that this combination could significantly increase the chances of getting GBS. Who knows?

    • July 12, 2021 at 9:38 pm

      The shot for Shingles was first discussed in 2014 and, although rare, it is no surprise about the shot causing GBS/CIDP for some. That forum discussion thread is here:

      Shingles

      • July 13, 2021 at 8:00 am

        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.

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