The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a new warning related to a very rare side effect caused by Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine.
This vaccine
has a minimal risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome
, a very rare disease that attacks the immune system and that usually occurs after the body defeats a viral infection, according to The Washington Post newspaper.
[Is it safe to mix COVID-19 vaccines? Can I reinforce the single dose from Johnson & Johnson with another from Moderna or Pfizer?]
As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English),
around 100 cases have yet to be definitively confirmed among a total of 12.8 million
administered
doses
of this vaccine.
The cases have been detected, for the most part, two weeks after vaccination and mainly in men aged 50 years or more.
The available data do not show a pattern to suggest a similar increased risk with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, after more than 321 million doses of these have been administered in the United States.
A doctor fills a syringe with Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine.
AP
These cases will be debated at an upcoming meeting of independent CDC advisers.
Federal authorities, in any case, have emphasized that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe and that its benefits clearly outweigh the potential risks
.
[Delta becomes the dominant variant of the coronavirus in the US]
An estimated 3,000 to 6,000 people develop Guillain-Barré syndrome each year in the United States.
Its causes are not well understood, but it often follows an infection with a virus, including influenza, or bacteria.
There is no known cure, but
there are therapies to try to lessen its severity and speed recovery
for most people, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
With information from The Washington Post