Post : Do COVID Vaccines Cause Bell’s Palsy?
URL : [link removed]
Posted : April 29, 2024 at 9:49 pm
Author : Vincent Iannelli, MD
Tags : Bell's Palsy, Joel Embiid, Joseph Mercola, Justin Bieber, Lyme disease, safety signals, Sherri Tenpenny, Steve Kirsch, tick bite, Vaccine Safety Datalink
Categories : Vaccine Fact Check

Why do some people still think that COVID vaccines cause Bell's Palsy?

[link removed] If fully vaccinated, Joel Embiid likely got his last COVID vaccine last fall when we got updated COVID vaccines ( [link removed] ) . It would be extremely unlikely that a COVID vaccine would cause his Bell's palsy seven months later, especially considering how common it is to get Bell's palsy.

The usual suspects...

Do COVID Vaccines Cause Bell's Palsy?

If it seems like we have talked about this before, it is because we have...

Remember when Steve Kirsch claimed ( [link removed] ) that he was "99% certain that Justin Bieber's facial paralysis was caused by the COVID vaccine?"

He was 100% wrong!

Justin Bieber ( [link removed] ) had Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a reactivation of the chicken pox virus.

And we talked about Bell's palsy when Joseph Mercola ( [link removed] ) was telling folks that meningitis vaccines were causing Bell's palsy ( [link removed] ) back in 2018 and again when the COVID vaccines first came out ( [link removed] ) .

Fortunately, neither was thought to be associated with Bell's palsy.

[link removed] Joel Embiid scored 22 points more than his average per game while suffering with Bell's Palsy! Sherri Tenpenny ( [link removed] ) is right though, there is nothing unusual about getting Bell's Palsy. It is fairly common and even though we have known about it for hundreds of years, we still don't know what always triggers it. That makes it an easy target for anti-vaccine influencers to claim that it is a vaccine injury ( [link removed] ) !

And now, anti-vaccine influencers ( [link removed] ) are once again pushing the idea that COVID vaccines are associated with Bell's palsy, because another celebrity has, you guessed it, Bell's palsy.

The evidence is against them though...

[link removed]
Vaccine Safety Datalink ( [link removed] ) analysis has monitored for, but has not found a safety signal ( [link removed] ) for Bell's palsy and COVID vaccines.

Most studies, except those that rely on VAERS ( [link removed] ) , do not show an association between most COVID vaccines and Bell's palsy.

COVID-19 vaccines and adverse events of special interest: A multinational Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) cohort study of 99 million vaccinated individuals ( [link removed] ) - no prioritised safety signal for Bell's palsy

Bell's Palsy After Vaccination Against Covid-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis ( [link removed] ) - a systematic review and meta-analysis that looked at over 20 million vaccinated patients found that 'the incidence of Bell's Palsy after vaccination against Covid-19 is comparable to that of the general unvaccinated population'

Bell's palsy is listed as a side effect of the Jansen COVID vaccine, but it is no longer used in the United States, so there is limited data to be used in a study to see if this is a real association.

Do you know what is known to be associated with Bell's palsy though?

> "This systematic review and meta-analysis found that the incidence of Bell's Palsy after vaccination against Covid-19 was comparable to that of the general population. This was also the case when stratifying by the first or second dose of the vaccine. Furthermore, we found no significant difference in the incidence of Bell's Palsy after vaccination among 3 of the most commonly administered vaccines worldwide. Given the increased incidence of Bell's Palsy in patients who contract Covid-19, a strong argument can be made to support vaccination in this regard. These findings can be used to help counsel patients regarding COVID-19 vaccination and provide the reassurance needed to combat vaccine hesitancy."
>
> Bell's Palsy After Vaccination Against Covid-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

That's right.

A natural COVID-19 infection!

> "A 52-year-old male with a past medical history of hypertension presented to the primary care clinic with abrupt right-sided facial paralysis that started three days prior to the visit. He tested positive for COVID-19 four weeks ago with mild cough symptoms. The patient reported a negative COVID-19 test a week before the onset of his facial paralysis. He was unvaccinated against COVID-19, and this was presumed to be his first COVID-19 infection."
>
> Bell’s Palsy Secondary to COVID-19 Infection

If you want to avoid Bell's palsy, get vaccinated and protected against COVID.

> "After matching patients with COVID-19 to vaccinated individuals (n = 63 551), there was an increased relative risk of 6.8 (95% CI = 3.5-13.2, P < .001) of a diagnosis of BP in those with COVID-19 compared with those who were vaccinated."
>
> Incidence of Bell Palsy in Patients With COVID-19

And stop listening to anti-vaccine influencers who are putting your life and the lives of your family in danger ( [link removed] ) as they scare you ( [link removed] ) away from getting vaccinated and protected.

Also, by blaming COVID vaccines every time someone has Bell's palsy, even if they got the vaccine 6 months or two years ago, it can get in the way of finding the real cause!

> "In summary, peripheral facial palsy is a frequent manifestation of early Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) in the US and LNB should be included in the differential of patients presenting with acute‐onset peripheral facial palsy."
>
> Characteristics and outcome of facial nerve palsy from Lyme neuroborreliosis in the United States

Did you know that Bell's palsy can be an indication that you have Lyme disease ( [link removed] ) ? You might not remember the tick bite ( [link removed] ) , but you might remember the characteristic rash ( [link removed] ) two or three weeks before your developed facial paralysis.

You won't think about it if you are focused on vaccines though!

Lastly, to be considered a plausible cause for Bell's palsy, you should have developed Bell's palsy within 6-8 weeks after getting your vaccination. The risk doesn't last forever...

More on Vaccines and Bell's Palsy

* Do Vaccines Cause Bell’s Palsy? ( [link removed] )

* Mistaking Subsequence for Consequence ( [link removed] )

* Is It a Vaccine Reaction? ( [link removed] )

* Ask 8 Questions Before You Skip a Vaccine ( [link removed] )

* COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Surveillance: Summary from VSD RCA ( [link removed] )

* COVID-19 vaccine safety update: Primary series in young children and booster doses in older children and adults ( [link removed] )

* Syncope and Bell’s palsy: Distinguishing correlation from causation for adverse events observed after COVID-19 vaccination ( [link removed] )

* Some on the Pfizer vaccine trials did get Bell’s palsy, but not more than we’d expect by chance ( [link removed] )

* Why you shouldn’t worry about getting BP from the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine ( [link removed] )

* People who received the COVID-19 vaccine aren’t more likely to develop facial paralysis than people who didn’t receive the vaccine ( [link removed] )

* UPDATE: AAO-HNS Statement on BP Related to Approved COVID-19 Vaccines ( [link removed] )

* Bell’s Palsy Secondary to COVID-19 Infection ( [link removed] )

* Incidence of Bell Palsy in Patients With COVID-19 ( [link removed] )

* Characteristics and outcome of facial nerve palsy from Lyme neuroborreliosis in the United States ( [link removed] )

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