Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37852786›Full record

ArticleNeurology2023

Association Between Guillain-Barré Syndrome and COVID-19 Infection and Vaccination: A Population-Based Nested Case-Control Study.

Haya Bishara, Anat Arbel, Ofra Barnett-Griness, Sivan Bloch, Shai Cohen, Ronza Najjar-Debbiny, Naomi Gronich, Eitan Auriel, Walid Saliba

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
7.8field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Acute Management of Guillain-Barré Syndrome: A Narrative Review.Archives of internal medicine research · 2026
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Observational
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Guillain-Barré syndrome.BJA education · 2025
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Guillain-Barré syndrome.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2024
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Haya BisharaFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0457-8387
Anat ArbelFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. freund.anat@gmail.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6735-4327
Ofra Barnett-GrinessFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0563-9230
Sivan BlochFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0182-6722
Shai CohenFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4046-2731
Ronza Najjar-DebbinyFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7586-3714
Naomi GronichFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4369-6813
Eitan AurielFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6712-5156
Walid SalibaFrom the Department of Neurology (H.B., S.B.), and Department of Internal Medicine B (A.A., S.C.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center; Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (A.A., S.B., S.C., R.N.-D., N.G., W.S.), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Statistical Unit (O.B.-G., W.S.), Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology (O.B.-G., N.G.), and Infection Control and Prevention Unit (R.N.-D.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa; Sackler Faculty of Medicine (E.A.), Tel Aviv University; Department of Neurology (E.A.), Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva; and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Research Authority (W.S.), Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0440-3611
Tel Aviv University · IL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectivesExisting data regarding occurrence of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and vaccination are inconclusive. We aimed to assess the association between GBS and both severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and COVID-19 vaccine.

methodsWe conducted a nested case-control study in a cohort of 3,193,951 patients aged 16 years or older, without a diagnosis of prior GBS, from the largest health care provider in Israel. Participants were followed from January 1, 2021, until June 30, 2022, for the occurrence of GBS. Ten randomly selected controls were matched to each case of GBS on age and sex. We assessed both SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccine administration in the prior 6 weeks in cases and controls.

resultsOverall, 76 patients were diagnosed with GBS during follow-up and were matched to 760 controls. A positive test for SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 9 (11.8%) cases and 18 (2.4%) controls. An administration of COVID-19 vaccine was detected in 8 (10.5%) cases (all Pfizer-BioNTech [BNT162b2] vaccine) and 136 (17.9%) controls (134 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine). Multivariable conditional logistic regression models showed that the odds ratio for GBS associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccine administration was 6.30 (95% CI 2.55-15.56) and 0.41 (95% CI 0.17-0.96), respectively. The results were similar when exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccine administration was ascertained in the prior 4 and 8 weeks, although did not reach statistical significance for COVID-19 vaccine at 4 weeks. DISCUSSION: Our study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with increased risk of GBS, whereas Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is associated with decreased risk of GBS.

Indexed as

COVID-19Guillain-Barre SyndromeBNT162 VaccineCase-Control StudiesCOVID-19 VaccinesHumansSARS-CoV-2VaccinationBNT162 VaccineCOVID-19 Vaccines

Identifiers

PMID37852786
PMCPMC10662985
OpenAlexW4387735365

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.