Title:A Systematic Review of the COVID Vaccine's Impact on the Nervous System
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
Author(s): Viswarupachari Tanguturi Yella, Sumit Pareek, Bhumika Meena, K.S.B.S. Krishna Sasanka, Pugazhenthan Thangaraju and Sree Sudha T Y*
Affiliation:
- Department
of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Deoghar, Jharkhand, India
Keywords:
Neurological adverse effects, COVID-19 vaccination, SARS-CoV-2, CNS complications, CNS adverse effects, transverse myelitis, guillain-barre syndrome, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, neuropathy, Pfizer, astrazeneca, johnson & johnson, moderna, sinovac, sinopharm, sputnik, covaxin.
Abstract:
Aims & Objectives: The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of
research pertaining to the COVID-19 vaccine and its association with neurological complications.
Method: We performed a comprehensive search of the literature using Google Scholar, PubMed,
and NCBI databases from December 2021 to December 2022. For Google Scholar, PubMed, and
NCBI databases we used the following key search terms: “neurological adverse effects”,
“COVID-19 vaccination”, “SARS-CoV-2”, CNS complications, and CNS adverse effects. Two
reviewer authors individually searched and assessed the titles and abstracts of all articles. The
third reviewer resolved the disagreement between them. Data were documented regarding title,
study location, type of study, type of COVID-19 vaccine, type of neurological complications/
adverse effects, and sample size.
Results: From our findings, it is confirmed that these neurological complications like Guillain-
Barre syndrome (23.6%), Neuromyelitis Optica spectrum disorder (5.5%), Neuropathy (6.9%),
Transverse Myelitis (8.3%) and Acute disseminated Encephalomyelitis (4.1%) are majorly affected
in most of the people. The increase in risks associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection far
outweighs any previously reported associations with vaccination.
Conclusion: We found no safety signal was observed between COVID-19 vaccines and the immune-
mediated neurological events. Before assuming a causal relationship, the side effects of the
COVID-19 vaccine should first be carefully examined to rule out known associated factors.
Symptom onset was within two weeks of vaccination in the majority of cases; as such, this seems
to be a high-risk period warranting vigilance.
