Is Peru's public health policy driven by public health considerations, or drug profits?

As Peru's 90-day health emergency to flatten the Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) curve enters its fourth week, experts say the autoimmune disorder may have been triggered by vaccination, while the South American country's current public health policy could be driven by drug profits, not public health considerations.

Health Communication Lecturer at IDC Herzliya International School Dr. Yaffa Shir Raz told Frontline News that GBS “is an autoimmune disorder that is triggered by vaccination or sometimes a virus. Guillain-Barré involves the hands, legs, and the rest of the body, sometimes respiratory muscles."

Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) case specialists MCT Law concur: “The exact cause of GBS is unknown … the syndrome can be triggered by an immunization.”

Indeed, the 1976 swine flu vaccine was pulled from the market after 500 people contracted Guillain-Barré Syndrome and the shots were associated with 25 deaths out of 43 million doses (1 in 17 million).

A study published in JAMA medical journal on February, reported 73 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome within 42 days of vaccination with Johnson & Johnson according to CDC reports.

Reports of several non-COVID vaccines have been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, including the swine flu or shingles vaccine, according to Ciencia y Salud Natural. Some researchers observed GBS cases after Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca COVID-19 injections

Studies published in the National Library of Medicine revealed that in 2021 multiple cases of GBS developed days after taking the COVID-19 injections. The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), recommended that the trade name of the AstraZeneca vaccine include a warning about the connection between the serum and the neurological syndrome. Among the victims, some have permanent side effects.

Peru is one of the most COVID-19-vaccinated countries in the world, with 91% of the population having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 85.3% have been “fully vaccinated”. Additionally, the most vaccinated regions of the country correspond to the areas of greatest GBS incidence.

According to the Peruvian Health Ministry, 147 cases were registered in the country from January to July 2023, with 31 hospitalized and four deceased. The regions with the highest number of cases are Lima, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Cajamarca, Piura, and Junín. (In 2021, then president Francisco Sagasti said: “La Libertad, Arequipa, Callao, Junín, and Lambayeque are the regions that have the most vaccinated against COVID-19.”)

With this, Peruvian health authorities have allegedly not been able to discover what caused the GBS outbreak. However, as new pharmaceuticals continue to be investigated, and after the FDA fast-tracked a new GBS treatment in 2019, some say the main consideration driving Peru's health emergency is not the illness, but the new drug.

Shir Raz: “The disorder itself, of course, is not contagious, but the trigger might be contagious. As a result of the trigger, the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the peripheral nerves and damages their myelin insulation. Maybe they are claiming it's a result of a certain virus or some kind of infection."

The pharmaceutical company that developed the FDA-fast-tracked treatment, Annexon Biosciences, announced “complete expanded enrollment in its ongoing pivotal Phase 3 trial for ANX005 in patients with GBS – the first placebo-controlled trial in this indication in nearly 40 years,” with a “goal to create near-term value for patients, physicians and stakeholders.”

Shir Raz commented sarcastically, “Coincidentally, they just happened to enroll…” adding: "The reason is never a virus; the reason is always a new drug."

Peruvian netizens linked the disease to the COVID-19 injection:

“Say it’s a side effect of the experimental vaccines.” 

“Not putting into the body the pseudo mARN vaccines reduce the risk of Guillain-Barré and hundreds of other effects”

“Why don't you  say that GBS can also be caused by viral infections such as covid, influenza, herpes, mononucleosis?! You should report well so that people take care of themselves and cases go down! Don't be negligent!

“Yet another disease that appears after vaccinating almost all of Peru, the sad thing is that people don't even realize it, these diseases only hit those who have been vaccinated, they should change the name of this ministry, MINISTRY OF DEATH, it would look better.”

“.... Doctors For Truth were warning against COVID vaccines… that there could be adverse reactions… heart attacks, thrombosis, arrhythmias, dengue fever and Guillain-Barré... how long will they continue to be blind?... What a coincidence everything since 2021”