A case report of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine–associated encephalitis

Journal article

Background

Vaccination against COVID-19 continues apace, but side-effects, both common and severe, continue to be reported. We report here the first published case of COVID-19 vaccine-related encephalitis.

Case presentation

A young woman presented with acute neuropsychiatric symptoms following recent ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination. Extensive investigation did not identify alternative causes.

Conclusions

This difficult case is here described, including presentation, investigation, and management. Further study on neuropsychiatric side-effects of COVID-19 vaccination, including investigation as to whether there may be a causal link, is required.

Authors: Takata, J; Durkin, SM; Wong, S; Zandi, MS; Swanton, JK

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Journal: BMC Neurology
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 485-485
• Publication date: 2021-12-13
• DOI: 10.1186/s12883-021-02517-w
• EISSN: 1471-2377
• ISSN: 1471-2377
• Language: English
• Keywords: Virus; Psychiatry; Pandemic; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); Encephalitis; Neurochemistry; Medicine; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Neurosurgery; Virology; Pathology; Neurology; Infectious disease (medical specialty); Disease; Immunology; Surgery; Outbreak; Vaccination; 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak; Pediatrics