The safety of vaccines in triggering GBS conditionThe recent discovery that vaccines are after all not the cause of Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome might possibly mean that there is no reason to be vaccinated in the first place. This is according Dr. Daniel Salmon from Johns Hopkins University Institute for Vaccine Safety who never participated in this study.

About Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome condition

GBS, or simply Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome is one of the rarest health conditions, which affects only one person in 100, 000. The condition is known cause paralysis but on a temporary basis.

Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome is largely considered to be an autoimmune response resulting from the immune cells of a person attacking the protective coat found on the nerve fibers. When this happens, it is followed by a viral or bacterial infection which develops within a period of some days or even weeks at sometime.

A vaccine that was developed in 1976 to offer protection against swine flu epidemic but, which didn’t materialize was linked to high Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome risks for those people who received a shot of the vaccine. Since that time, researchers have been working tirelessly in trying to ascertain of flu vaccines, and other vaccines could also be linked with increased risk as well. Most people confidently believe that this syndrome is caused by the vaccines. However, a look at medical literature doesn’t seem to bring out this idea, as explained by Dr. Roger Baxter.

Most of the studies undertaken in the past do not show a connection between the vaccines and Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome. Also, just very studies show that some of the vaccines increase the risk for among persons getting certain flu vaccines. However, the probability of finding Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome among the old people who received the vaccine against H1N1 flu is extremely rare. Since this disorder is very rate, telling whether a certain vaccine actually increases the risk is extremely difficult, according to Baxter.

Vaccines do not cause Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome

As a result of this, Baxter and his research maters were prompted to dig into past data of the hospitalization records for the condition in Kaiser Permanente to look if any connection could be spotted. Between 1995 and 2006, the reported cases of Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome were 415. Among these cases, the researchers show that two thirds of the patients had respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in the previous weeks for the development of Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome. Also, it is only 25 people who had received some sort of vaccination within a period of six weeks before GBS onset. 18 got flu shots, three got tetanus shots, 3 had hepatitis vaccines, and 2 had pneumonia vaccines. Based on this information, the team didn’t hesitate to conclude that vaccines are safe and not in any way connected to Guillain- Barre’ Syndrome. For this reason, there is nothing to worry about the vaccines triggering GBS.