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Watch: What Ashish Jha said about FDA warning of rare neurological disorder linked to Johnson & Johnson vaccine
“This is a pretty rare condition, but it happens.”
The Food and Drug Administration has added a warning to the fact sheet for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, cautioning that the inoculation may be linked to an increased risk of the rare neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said it would not be surprising to find a real link between the vaccine and the disorder, but reminded the public during an appearance Tuesday on “Good Morning America” that the condition is “very rare.”
“It’s pretty rare, it’s pretty rare in general and can be caused by, can be triggered by other infections,” Jha said. “It’s known to be triggered by medicines or other vaccines. We see this — this is a pretty rare condition, but it happens.”
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Federal officials have identified about 100 suspected cases of Guillain-Barré disease among the almost 13 million individuals who received the Johnson & Johnson shot in the United States.
“This is a very rare side effect of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine,” Jha said. “We’re still figuring out whether it’s really related. But given that it’s been shown with other vaccines, it’s been shown with infections, it would not be surprising if it ends up being a real association. But a very, very rare one.”
The doctor said classic symptoms of Guillain-Barré begin with tingling and numbness, especially in the legs, and the main symptom is weakness.
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“So if you start feeling weakness in your legs, sometimes in your arms, and then obviously if you have difficulty walking, you want to go get that checked out by your doctor or go to the emergency room,” Jha said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday the cases of Guillain-Barré linked to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were largely reported about two weeks after the shot, mostly in men aged 50 years old and older.
Most people who develop recover from the disorder, which occurs when the immune system begins attacking nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. Rarely, patients can suffer almost complete paralysis with the syndrome.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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