World's largest study in COVID vaccine side-effects | ABC News
26 Feb 2024
[Jeremy]
Introduction to COVID Vaccine Side Effects Study
The results are in from the world's largest study into the side effects of COVID vaccines. The study involved almost 100 million people from eight countries. For more, we're joined by the host of the Health Report on RN, Dr. Norman Swan. Norman, great to see you again. Hi, Jeremy. Now, what have we learned from this study that's been highly anticipated?
[Dr. Norman Swan]
Study Scope and Methodology
Well, just as you alluded to the scope of it, 99 million people, 183 million doses of vaccines, looking at Astra, Moderna and Pfizer. And they've done it in eight countries with very reliable data, places like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Finland. And the results show that, well, first of all, the uncovered side effects that they hadn't quite expected, and they did show up as a signal there.
Analysis of Side Effects
All the side effects were rare. And it takes me a little bit just to explain the data.
[00:01:00]
Because what they were doing was they were saying, look, what's the base rate of these problems in the community? And what's the rise above the base? How many cases would we have expected over this period of time in this group of people? And then how many cases appeared? And what they showed was that they were rare. So let's start. And they only chose significant side effects if they were confident that they were side effects.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome
So Guillain-Barré syndrome is one that's been talked about a lot. You and I have talked about it on the virus on the news channel. So this is an ascending paralysis of the body, a bit like, well, it's not really like multiple sclerosis, but it affects the nervous system. Usually, in most people, it's a temporary phenomenon, although it can be quite serious at the time. Guillain-Barré seemed to be only a problem with the Astra vaccine. Rare, but only with the Astra vaccine, not with the mRNA vaccines.
[00:02:00]
Myocarditis and Pericarditis
Myocarditis, pericarditis, inflammation of the heart, that showed up as a significant side effect. And no surprises there with the mRNA vaccines.
Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis
Then there was a side effect called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. So this is essentially a brain inflammation, usually seen in children, but in this case, in older people, these are largely 20 to 60 year olds. And again, in most people, self-limiting, but can be quite nasty. But to give you an idea of how, and it was only with the Moderna vaccine, they didn't see it with Pfizer, and they didn't see it with Astra. So out of 10 million doses of Astra, 10 million doses of Moderna, I should say, they expected to see two cases in that population of this brain inflammation, and they saw seven. So you can see how rare it is, but it needs more investigation.
[Jeremy]
Number of People with Side Effects
So out of that cohort of 99 million participants who were the subject of this study, how many people came up with side effects?
[00:03:10]
[Dr. Norman Swan]
I've been asked this question before in terms of how many people, if you just take the brain inflammation, out of 99 million people, seven.
[Jeremy]
Because this was, I mean, the whole thing about side effects is that a lot of people around the world are wondering, what if I'm one of the seven, right? But proportionality is really, really important here.
[Dr. Norman Swan]
Rarity and Transparency of Side Effects
That's right. So it's vanishingly rare, but it does exist. And it's all about transparency, so that you know what the risks are. And this would be like winning the biggest lotto three times in your life, something like that.
[Jeremy]
Extrapolation to Global Population
As we mentioned, this was eight countries was the scope. How much can that be extrapolated to the rest of the world population, other recipients of these vaccines?
[Dr. Norman Swan]
It's a good question because you might well get different genetic susceptibilities in different populations.
[00:04:05]
But in terms of a representative population for Australia, particularly Canada was heavily involved, and it's a very similar population to Australia's. I think Australians can take it away that from their point of view, it gives a good understanding of the risk of side effects.
[Jeremy]
Introduction to Blood Fat Study
I want to turn now to another study, this time into a type of blood fat that's been linked with heart disease and strokes. Tell me about that.
[Dr. Norman Swan]
Cholesterol and LDL
We all know about cholesterol. And if you've thought about cholesterol, you've heard about there's good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. Bad cholesterol is called LDL. And that's the one that they target to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke and so on.
Lipoprotein Little a (LP little a)
It's been known for a long time that on the side here, there's another blood fat. It's not part of cholesterol, separate blood fat. And it goes by the name lipoprotein little a, because there's a little a next to it, the way the experts describe it.
[00:05:02]
And it's been known for a while that LP little a increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. But cardiologists have been trying to find all sorts of reasons why they shouldn't measure it. One of the reasons is that they haven't got effective treatments for it. It turns out, and it's just getting stronger and stronger and stronger, that LP little a is a strong risk factor for heart attacks and strokes in its own right.
Measurement and Risk Assessment
And it should be measured in people who are at high risk. Because there are ways of bringing it down and reducing your risk, and there are new treatments on the horizon. And it's as potent in terms of heart attack and stroke as LDL cholesterol.
[Jeremy]
Getting Tested for High Risk
How do you get about working out if you are at high risk or not?
[Dr. Norman Swan]
You get a simple blood test.
[Jeremy]
It's that easy?
[Dr. Norman Swan]
It's that easy. Trouble is it's not reimbursed at the moment. So it'll cost you anywhere between 25 and 50. Norman, great to chat with you. Thank you so much for coming in.