All authors work with the Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences at the University of Naples “Federico II” in Italy.
"Case Presentation
In May 2021 a 66-year-old Caucasian woman... was accepted to the emergency unit exhibiting symptoms of acute progressive weakness of distal extremities, especially to the right leg, she had related symptoms like cephalalgia, nausea, and vomiting... The patient reports that the onset of neurological symptoms occurred almost 4 weeks after she received COVID-19 vaccination with Comirnaty (mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech)...
The patient was arrived to [sic] Neurology unit where the neurological examination revealed a Bell’s palsy with facial asymmetry...
Electrophysiological studies have shown that the patient has a type of Guillain-Barrè syndrome that causes a demyelinating polyneuropathy...
[L]imb weakness got worse, and severe respiratory failure developed almost 11 days after admission so he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and required mechanical ventilation...
The patient was intubated and connected to Mechanical Artificial Ventilation (VAM). One hour after intubation the electrocardiogram heart tracing revealed ST segment depression, and severe bradycardia (FC 20 bpm) followed by cardiac arrest. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers with the use of an automatic external defibrillator were performed according to Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS). After 30 minutes there was no evidence of cardiac response so the patient’s death was declared.
Discussion
Guillain–Barré Syndrome is a serious health disorder, triggered by an infection or immune stimulus, in which a person’s immune system damages his/her peripheral nerve cells due to molecular mimicry, causing muscle weakness, sometimes paralysis, and infrequently death...
There have been accounts linking Guillain-Barré syndrome with coronavirus infections... Vaccine-associated Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) occurs when GBS symptoms appear within 6 weeks of receiving a vaccine, as reported by VAERS.
Abara et al suggest that there is an increased risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) associated with Ad26.COV2.S vaccination. The study found that GBS reporting after Ad26.COV2.S vaccination was around 9 to 12 times more common than after BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccination within 21- and 42-day post-vaccination intervals. Similarly, observed GBS cases after Ad26.COV2.S vaccination were 2 to 3 times greater than expected based on background rates within 21- and 42-day post-vaccination intervals. According to an EudraVigilance analysis, GBS cases were slightly more frequent after adenovirus vaccination than after mRNA vaccination."