The pharmaceutical company
AztraZeneca
, which is working hand in hand with the University of Oxford to create a vaccine against COVID-19, announced a momentary pause in the tests that are being carried out due to an alleged serious reaction on the part of one of participants.
According to a company spokesperson, stopping the testing phase is a routine action that occurs when there is a potentially unexplained illness that must be investigated to ensure the integrity of the testing.
"In large trials, discomforts will happen by chance, but they must be independently reviewed to verify this carefully," the company said in a statement.
Because the creation of the vaccine is in phase 3 of experimentation, testing thousands of people, AstraZeneca assured that they are working to accelerate the review of the case that was presented and its impact on the testing schedule, in addition to ensure the safety of the participants.
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According to a report from the 'New York Times', a person close to the study, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed that one of the volunteers had been diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammatory neurological disorder that affects the spinal cord.
According to his testimony, the volunteer was present for phases 2-3 of the tests and lives in the UK.
However, the exact time of its diagnosis and whether this condition is directly related to the vaccine is unknown.
Transverse myelitis can have multiple causes that trigger the body's inflammatory response, including viral infections, but it is a condition that is treatable with steroids, neurologist Gabriella Garcia told the American newspaper.
This disease interrupts the communication of the nerves from the spinal cord to the body, causing pain, muscle weakness, paralysis, sensory problems, bladder and bowel dysfunction.
In an article published by the scientific journal 'The Lancet' last July, the researchers who are making the AstraZeneca vaccine noted that the majority of volunteers in phase 1 and 2 had experienced some mild or moderate side effects, such as muscle aches and chills.
However, none of the reactions were considered serious, so they resolved quickly.
This is the second time that testing of this vaccine has been suspended, according to the BBC, and will only be resumed when an independent investigation reviews the case data and decides that it is safe to resume the trial.
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