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Flu shots decrease overall risk of acquiring Guillain-Barré Syndrome
January 19, 2015
Drs.
Kumanan Wilson
and
Steven Hawken
published a paper this week that examines whether the flu shot increases or decreases the risk of getting Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a rare but serious autoimmune condition.
Recent studies have associated flu and also flu vaccination with an increased risk of developing GBS. The possible association of GBS with vaccination is frequently cited by health-care workers as a reason not to have a flu shot, even though chances of acquiring GBS after contracting the flu are far greater. This study is the first to use a model that accounts simultaneously for incidence of flu in the community and effectiveness of the flu vaccine. In most scenarios the authors found an overall decreased risk of GBS associated with vaccination, which runs counter to the prevailing thoughts and studies on the matter and is an important message for flu shot campaigns.
For details, see the
paper in CDC's
Emerging Infectious Diseases
journal
, and articles by the
Ottawa Citizen
,
The Canadian Press
,
La Presse
,
Medscape
and
Washington Post
.
Other co-authors: Jeffrey C. Kwong, Shelley L. Deeks, Natasha S. Crowcroft, Allison J. McGeer, Robin Ducharme, Michael A. Campitelli and Doug Coyle.
Funder(s):
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
The
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
is the research arm of
The Ottawa Hospital
and is an affiliated institute of the
University of Ottawa
, closely associated with its faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute includes more than 1,700 scientists, clinical investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff conducting research to improve the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease. Support our research. Give to the
Tender Loving Research
campaign.
For further information, please contact
Paddy Moore
Communications and Public Relations
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Office: 613-737-8899 x73687
Cell: 613-323-5680
padmoore@ohri.ca
Tags:
Autoimmune disease
,
Infectious disease
,
Influenza
,
Immunization