Officials investigate rare nervous system disorder in older adults who got RSV vaccine
Health officials are investigating whether there's a link between two new RSV vaccines and cases of a rare nervous system disorder
NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials are investigating whether there's a link between two new RSV vaccines and cases of a rare nervous system disorder in older U.S. adults.
The inquiry is based on fewer than two dozen cases seen among more than 9.5 million vaccine recipients, health officials said Thursday. And the available information is too limited to establish whether the shots caused the illnesses, they added.
But the numbers are higher than expected and officials are gathering more information to determine if the vaccines are causing the problem. The data was presented at a meeting of an expert panel that provides vaccine policy advice to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials said they were investigating more than 20 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, an rare illness in which a person’s immune system damages nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and paralysis. An estimated 3,000 to 6,000 people develop GBS in the U.S. each year, and it's more commonly seen in older people, according to the CDC.
