Abstract
Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is a (sub) acute polyradiculoneuropathy, which may occur following immunization. To interpret the occurrence of GBS after introduction of large-scale immunization programmes, it is important to define recent background incidence rates (IRs) of GBS. We used a general practitioner electronic medical record database to assess age-specific GBS IRs between 1996 and 2008 in The Netherlands. All possible GBS cases were manually reviewed. Validated incident cases were reviewed by a neurologist (B. J.) for diagnostic certainty using the GBS case definition of the Brighton Collaboration (BC). In a population of 638,891 persons, we identified 23 validated incident GBS cases (mean age 46 years). IR was 1.14 per 100,000 person years (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.67-1.61) and was lower for people under 50 years (0.76; 95% CI 0.41-1.32) compared with elderly of 50 years or older (1.80; 95% CI 0.98-3.05). Only six cases fulfilled level 1 or 2 of diagnostic certainty of the BC case definition. IR of GBS increases with age. As vaccinations are often targeted at specific age groups, age-specific rates should be used to monitor GBS observed versus expected rates after introduction of large-scale vaccination programmes.
Original language | Undefined/Unknown |
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Pages (from-to) | 243-249 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |