Incidence of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) after COVID-19 Vaccination: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Global vaccination against COVID-19 will help nations to overcome the pandemic stage as soon as possible. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the peripheral nerves (PNS) that is reported as a complication of both COVID-19 and vaccines. Up to now, case reports regarding the incidence of GBS have been reported after different COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. So, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to estimate the pooled incidence of GBS after COVID-19 vaccination.

Two expert researchers conducted a systematic search in PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, Google Scholar as well as gray literature in order to find relevant articles published before September 2022.

After deleting duplicates, we found 1021 articles, of which 458 studies were further evaluated. A final number of 21 studies remained for meta-analysis, with most of those being from the USA, UK and Mexico. Follow-up duration was between 21-42 days. Out of the total number of 2.35x109 patients included in the final meta-analysis, 3654 subjects developed GBS after vaccination, most of whom were males. Incidence of GBS per million ranged between 0.23 and 9.8. The pooled incidence of GBS following vaccination was 0%.