How will Canada conduct surveillance for Guillain-Barré Syndrome?
The objective of surveillance for Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) during the pandemic H1N1 campaign is to characterize, as quickly as possible, the risk, if any, of GBS following vaccine. In order to do this, a system has been developed to detect every case of GBS, regardless of whether the person has received the H1N1 flu vaccine. The Public Health Agency of Canada is collecting data on every case of Guillan-Barré Syndrome (GBS) following H1N1 immunization. Each case that follows immunization will be investigated to determine whether the person was at higher risk for GBS during the six week period following immunization. This will help assess whether the observed rate of GBS is higher than what is expected in the population. An update on reported cases of GBS following H1N1 immunization is included in the weekly vaccine surveillance report of adverse events following immunization. This research will ultimately inform not only the vaccine safety of the H1N1 flu vaccine, but other vaccine
