While Covid-19 vaccines have been credited with saving tens of thousands of lives, there have also been health scares linked to them.
The latest involves the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and a rare neurological condition, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).
This week the US Food and Drug Administration added a warning about GBS to its guidelines for healthcare providers administering the vaccine, which is also known by its Janssen brand name.
Here we look at the condition and consider its apparent association with the vaccine.
What is Guillain-Barré syndrome?
Guillain-Barré syndrome, which the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) says is pronounced “ghee-yan bar-ray”, is caused by the immune system attacking the body’s nerves. Cases frequently follow a bacterial or viral infection, including influenza.
Early symptoms include numbness, weakness, pain and balance problems, which may worsen over several weeks, with the feet, hands and limbs most affected.
In some cases, sufferers find walking, swallowing and even breathing difficult, according to guidance from the NHS, and as symptoms spread, movement as a whole may prove difficult.
Various treatments are available, including blood filtering — called plasma exchange — or the administration of an intravenous substance produced from donated blood.
Hospital stays of weeks or months are typical and there is a risk of death, and some people are left with long-term complications. However, patients usually recover fully.
Children can develop the condition, although it is more common in adults, especially men, and in a typical year there are about 3,000 to 6,000 cases in the US.
Is there a link with vaccination?
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention there have been about 100 cases of GBS in the country among 12.8 million who have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Of these, 95 were serious, with one fatal.
Symptoms typically developed a two weeks after vaccination and men aged over 50 were most affected.
Last month there were reports of a handful of cases of GBS in the Nottingham area of central England in people who had received the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot. Also some recipients in India and Australia have developed the condition.
The Johnson and Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are based on similar technology, being viral vector vaccines made from a harmless adenovirus that delivers coronavirus genetic material into cells.
Is vaccination still safe?
While the Johnson and Johnson vaccine appears to increase the chance of developing GBS, the US data indicates that fewer than one recipient in 100,000 falls ill.
As with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, regulators have not recommended against continued use because of GBS.
“That’s a significant risk and it’s a very serious condition, but at the same time for the average person no doubt vaccination is beneficial,” said Prof David Taylor, professor emeritus of pharmaceutical and public health policy at University College London.
Balanced against the risks of vaccination are the much higher risks from developing Covid-19, which may itself be a risk factor for GBS, although findings are contradictory.
A study from last year looking at cases in England during the first wave of the pandemic found that there were actually fewer reports of the condition in 2020 compared with previous years.
However, Dubai Medical Journal earlier this year reported GBS in a 72-year-old man in Kuwait with Covid-19.
“Neurologists should be aware of GBS as a potentially serious complication associated with Covid-19,” the researchers concluded.
Are there other risks associated with Covid-19 vaccination?
The Johnson and Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines have been linked to a syndrome called immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, which causes potentially fatal blood clots.
Although these are extremely rare, the risk has caused some countries to impose age restrictions on these vaccines, with younger people often offered an alternative.
Two other vaccines, the Moderna and Pfizer jabs, based on mRNA technology, have been linked to a rare type of heart inflammation called myocarditis, with teenaged boys and young men most at risk.
A report from Harvard Health Publishing earlier this month said there had been about 1,000 cases from millions of vaccine doses.
“The majority of cases have been mild. Experts are still gathering information, but as of this writing, 79 per cent of teenagers and young adults who experienced this had recovered,” wrote Dr Claire McCarthy, a paediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of paediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
She said there was a risk of myocarditis, and other complications, from Covid-19, and the recommendation was for vaccination to continue.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs
UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
Translated by Arunava Sinha
Tilted Axis Press
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
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