The safety of anti-Covid-19 vaccines is (very) closely monitored by health authorities around the world.
In France, as the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) explains, “vaccine-related adverse effects are monitored by the regional pharmacovigilance centers (CRPV) in Bordeaux and Marseille for Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNtech), Amiens and Rouen for Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca), Lille and Besançon for Spikevax (Moderna), and Lyon and Grenoble for COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen“.
Exactly : in a recent publicationthe World Health Organization (WHO) issues a “signal” with regard to hearing loss and tinnitus detected after an injection of an anti-Covid-19 vaccine.
A “mechanism of action involving the vestibulocochlear nerve“
Worldwide, 37,529 cases have been reported (31,644 cases of tinnitus and 1,290 cases of sudden hearing loss); the patients concerned are mainly young adults “in good health and without comorbidities“. The hearing impairment occurred within “minutes to several hours after receiving their first dose of vaccine“. All anti-Covid-19 vaccines are concerned. Moreover, according to the WHO, “most patients recovered from these hearing losses, but others required treatment with steroids“.
Attention: for the WHO, a “signal“is defined as”a relationship between a drug and an effect, this relationship being, to date, unknown or undocumented“. Clearly: this does not mean that vaccines against Covid-19 cause hearing problems and tinnitus. However, monitoring is necessary to investigate this possible side effect. For WHO experts, it could be a question of ‘A “mechanism of action involving the vestibulocochlear nerve“located inside the ear.
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