What is transverse myelitis and why there are no reasons for alarm in Spain due to COVID vaccines

Although all medications have side effects, few are subject to as much scrutiny by the general public as COVID-19 vaccines. Recently, it has made headlines transverse myelitis as a possible adverse reaction to AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines, although the reality is that in Spain there has been a single possible case.

This is how the last picks it up pharmacovigilance report of the Spanish Medicines Agency (AEMPS) on vaccines against coronavirus, which notes that “transverse myelitis has been identified as a possible adverse reaction to Vaxzevria [nombre de la vacuna de AstraZeneca] and COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen”.

One rare neurological disorder, according to the definition of the AEMPS itself, characterized by the inflammation of one or both sides of the spinal cord and that often damages the myelin sheath that covers nerve fibers.

According to the agency, this condition can manifest itself with weakness in arms and legs, sensory symptoms -tingling, numbness, pain or sensation of loss of pain-, opfunctional problems of the bladder or bowel.

However, and although the European Medicines Agency (EMA) does not rule out a causal relationship after the administration of this vaccine, the truth is the number of identified cases is “very low”, according to the AEMPS.

In fact, until last January 9, Spain had only registered a report of possible transverse myelitis following the AstraZeneca vaccine and none after Janssen. This, despite the fact that by then they had been administered close to 9.8 million doses from AstraZeneca and two million of Janssen in our country.

Specifically, the data from the EMA They talk about 38 suspected cases globally, 25 of them with AstraZeneca and 13 with Janssen. Vaccines of which nearly 1.4 billion and 33,584,049 doses have been administered, respectively. The proportion of suspected cases, therefore, is very small with respect to the administered vaccines.

In any case, the AEMPS advises vaccinated people to seek immediate medical attention if after receiving either of these two vaccines they experience sensory problems, weakness or malfunction of the bladder or intestines.