Patients' attitude towards vaccination after Guillain Barré syndrome

Guillain Barré syndrome (GBS) could be triggered by an infectious disease but by vaccination as well. Thus, suffering GBS may influence patients' attitudes towards vaccination.

An anonymous questionnaire consisting of the Overall Neuropathy Limitations Score (ONLS), the short form-36 health survey (SF-36), and questions addressing patients' attitude towards vaccination was sent to members of a German GBS support group and to patients with GBS diagnosis who were treated at Jena University Hospital.

Ninety-seven questionnaires clearly stated GBS as a diagnosis and were included in the analysis. Although 19.6% of the GBS patients reported having no disability in the long-time follow-up, a considerable number of patients still had persistent neurological symptoms; 74.2% of the GBS patients reported being able to walk at least 10 m independently. However, 5.2% were restricted to wheelchair. The patients reached lower scores in all domains of quality of life compared to German controls. Moreover, patients showed a more critical attitude towards vaccination compared to a German representative survey. Fewer patients (58.8%) received a vaccination after suffering from GBS than before (77.3%). Every tenth patient believed that vaccination was the trigger for the GBS. 32% of the patients did not receive a vaccination in the last 5 years mainly because of the fear of adverse effects (32%) or disadvise of the general practitioners (25.8%).

Although the risk of relapse following immunization may be rather low, uncertainties and fears still impair the counseling of these patients by their medical practitioner.