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UK drug regulator annexes rare nerve disorder with AstraZeneca COVID vaccine

UK drug regulator annexes rare nerve disorder with AstraZeneca COVID vaccine

LONDON: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recently added Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) as a sporadic side effect of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on its website.

Guillain-Barré syndrome has been an extremely rare autoimmune disorder in which a person's immune system damages the nerves, which leads to muscle instability and often paralysis. 

Earlier, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) added GBS as a potential side-effect last month, and now UK's drug regulator, MHRA, have aligned with them.

The EMA linked the relationship between GBS and the AstraZeneca shot, Vaxzevria, after 833 cases of GBS were recorded out of 592 million doses of the vaccine.