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Advanced Neurology

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Signatures of neurological adverse events after

vaccination

1
Darrell O. Ricke * and Jessica Rose 2
1 Department of Research, Molecular BioInsights, Winchester, Massachusetts, United States of
America
2 Independent Researcher, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

There have been reports associated with the development of neurological adverse
events (AEs) post-vaccination. Here, we retrospectively examine the Vaccine Adverse
Events Reporting System (VAERS) database for neurological AEs reported following
vaccination. Since VAERS is a passive reporting system, to minimize reporting bias
and to reduce background events, this retrospective study examines both age-
stratified AE reports made with onset within 24 h of immunization, and age-stratified
AE reports regardless of timeframe from immunization. Immediate temporal onset
data patterns for febrile convulsion, seizure, and syncope AEs were observed for
multiple vaccines. For age-stratified AEs in infants up to 3 years of age, the following
patterns of high association were observed: (i) Aphasia, autism spectrum disorder,
and speech disorder were found to be highly associated with the measles, mumps,
and rubella and hepatitis B (HepB) vaccines; (ii) febrile convulsion and syncope were
found to be highly associated with the meningococcal group B vaccine; and (iii)
seizures were found to be highly associated with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and
whole-cell pertussis (DTP) vaccines.
*Corresponding author:
Darrell O. Ricke
(doricke@molecularbioinsights.com) Keywords: Neurological diseases; Vaccines; COVID-19 vaccines; Febrile convulsion;
Citation: Ricke DO, Rose J. Seizure; Syncope; Autism spectrum disorder
Signatures of neurological adverse
events after vaccination. Adv Neuro.
2024;3(1):2258.
https://doi.org/10.36922/an.2258
Received: November 16, 2023 1. Introduction
Accepted: February 15, 2024 Serious adverse events (SAEs), including neurological AEs, occur in some individuals
following vaccination. In any given population, a background rate of neurological
1
Published Online: March 12, 2024 AE reporting can therefore be established based on an expected calculated number of
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). people that develop these AEs. Thus, observed neurological AEs post-vaccination will be
This is an Open-Access article a combination of background AEs and vaccine-induced AEs.
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Vaccines provide protection against multiple infectious organisms but risks of AEs
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, need to be considered in the context of benefits for each vaccine. Neurological AEs
2,3
provided the original work is following vaccinations previously reported include syncope, seizures (including
properly cited. Dravet syndrome ) and febrile seizures, aphasia, and more. Genetic studies have
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5
6
Publisher’s Note: AccScience identified genetic variants associated with subsets of these AEs. Neurological AEs
Publishing remains neutral with such as febrile convulsions, encephalitis/encephalopathy, and infantile spasms
regard to jurisdictional claims in are known to be associated with the measles, and pertussis vaccines. Seizures
7
published maps and institutional
affiliations. are known to be associated with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and whole-cell
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/an.2258