Doctor with encephalitis after receiving the Pfizer vaccine in Nuevo León under review

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The 32-year-old woman, who has a history of allergic reactions, also had seizures, decreased muscle strength, and respiratory distress.

The Mexican Government is studying the case of a doctor with an allergic history who is in intensive care for developing encephalitis, an inflammation in the brain, after receiving the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19.

“With the scientific evidence available from the clinical trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, no person had previously presented encephalitis after the application of the vaccine,” reported this Saturday the Ministry of Health (SSa ) it’s a statement.

The government agency specified that the woman is a 32-year-old doctor from the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in the northern state of Nuevo León, where she received the drug this week.

The doctor, said the SSa, has a history of allergic reactions to drugs such as trimethoprim with sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic that fights urinary infections.

Its initial diagnosis is encephalomyelitis, which is described as a brief but intense attack of inflammation in the brain, usually from a viral infection.

The woman developed a skin rash, seizures, decreased muscle strength, and respiratory distress within half an hour after the dose was applied.

“The reaction was detected within the specific observation area of ​​the vaccination cell in which the doctor received her vaccine,” indicated the SSa.

Mexico is one of the first countries in the world to begin vaccination against COVID-19, but so far it has only received about 53,000 doses of the drug from Pfizer-BioNTech, all applied to healthcare personnel.

The Government of Mexico, where the pandemic has left more than 1.4 million infections and more than 126,000 deaths, has opted for early access to the vaccine.

The country has pre-purchase contracts for 34.4 million doses from Pfizer, 77.4 million from the British AstraZeneca, 35 million from the Chinese CanSino and 34.4 million from the Covax platform of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised that he will vaccinate all health personnel against COVID-19 by the end of January and “most” of its vulnerable population by April.

Mexico will receive another batch of Pfizer vaccines this Tuesday, in addition to the fact that next week the acquisition of 12 million doses for three months, from January to March, from the Chinese company CanSino will be formalized.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (SSa) affirmed that it follows the protocol of “Events supposedly attributable to vaccination and immunization” of the Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris).

“The doctor is under observation and treatment by specialists in critical medicine to reduce the brain inflammation presented. Intensive specialized treatment will continue,” he concluded.

Source: elpais.com

Monterrey Daily Post