Global Vaccine Safety

Conjugate meningococcal vaccine and Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Extract from report of GACVS meeting of 1-2 December 2005, published in the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record on 13 January 2006

Several cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) were recently reported in the United States following the introduction of a tetravalent conjugated meningococcal vaccine. More than 2.5 million doses of this vaccine had been distributed in the United States at the time of these reports. Although a temporal relationship to vaccination prompted an alert by CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, the number of cases reported was similar to what would normally have been expected in this population. Accordingly, no change to vaccination recommendations was proposed. This information has been included in vaccine information sheets and the package insert for the vaccine. Similarly, the GACVS recommended no change in vaccination policies based on these reports.

Share