Lead Author: Lim, Kim, et al.
Original date of publication: 12/30/2024
Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ene.70020
Summary Context
The study found a significant increase (two to threefold) in the risk of acute transverse myelitis (ATM) associated with COVID-19 vaccinations within 1-42 days compared to the pre-vaccination (unvaccinated) period. The study identifies safety signals for spinal cord inflammation across all COVID-19 vaccine platforms- viral vector or mRNA. The authors recommended that, “physicians should exercise caution regarding the possibility of ATM following vaccination, enabling early diagnosis and appropriate management.”
Comments
This self-controlled case series study used a large database combining the COVID-19 vaccine registry and the national claims database. The COVID-19 vaccination data included information on individuals aged 18 and above who received COVID-19 vaccination from February 26, 2021, to August 31, 2022. Patients who developed ATM within 1–42 days following COVID-19 vaccination were included. The observation period was 270 days after the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
While this study highlights serious harms associated with COVID-19 vaccines further research on the possibilities of ATM following booster doses is necessary as it is widely reported that adverse events seem to increase with additional inoculations.
A further inquiry might also include an explanation of the South Korea national claims database to note if it is comprehensive or if it has limitations in its inclusive abilities. If the latter then the already significant harms would likely be greater in number and/or more pronounced
Abstract or Results, Key Passages
“Results: A total of 159 ATM patients were included. Among them, 82 (51.6%) were male, and mean age was 55.4 (±17.4) years. The IRR was 2.41 (95% CI: 1.76–3.30) for the ATM risk within 1–42 days after COVID-19 vaccination. The IRR by vaccine product was 3.31 (95% CI: 1.81–6.05) for ChAdOx1-S; 1.99 (95% CI: 1.30–3.03) for BNT162b2; 2.57 (95% CI: 1.14–5.97) for mRNA-1273; and 3.33 (95% CI: 0.30–36.44) for Ad26.COV2.S.
Conclusion: These findings indicated an increased risk of ATM following COVID-19 vaccination within 42 days. An association with the risk of ATM was found both for viral vector and mRNA vaccines.”
Keywords: adverse eventscase-controlcovid vaccinationmRNAmyelitisside effectsSouth Koreatransverse myelitis
Full Author List: Eunsun Lim, Yoo Hwan Kim, Na-Young Jeong, Su-Hyun Kim, Heehyun Won, Jong-Seok Bae, Nam-Kyong Choi, COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Committee (CoVaSC)
