No proven link between Covid-19 vaccines and language disorder

CONVERSATIONS have risen online about aphasia, a language disorder, with some users claiming the condition is on the rise due to Covid-19 vaccines.

However, there’s no evidence of a causal link between the disease and the vaccines, and aphasia is much more common after a Covid-19 infection itself, health experts told Reuters.

Aphasia causes problems with communicating, including di culty speaking or reading.

It is most caused by a brain injury, such as a stroke or head trauma.

On March 30, the family of Hollywood actor Bruce Willis announced that the star would retire after being diagnosed with aphasia, saying it was “impacting his cognitive abilities” .

Social media users reacting to Willis’ diagnosis suggested without evidence that his condition was linked to Covid-19 vaccination, while others indicated that rates of aphasia signi cantly increased with Covid-19 vaccinations.

Other accounts also shared a single case study documenting a case of aphasia following Covid-19 vaccination, suggesting a link to the shot.

However, health experts told Reuters that the condition is not a proven side e ect of Covid-19 vaccines.

The widely-shared case study documented the “suddenonset reading di culty and aphasia” in a 52-year-old male seven days after the second dose of an mRNA-based SARSCoV-2 vaccine .

His aphasia resolved “almost completely within a few days”, it says.

The report, however, could not con rm the condition was a result of the vaccine.

The case report’s lead author Josef Finsterer explained to Reuters via email that potential aphasia after Covid-19 vaccines is “multicausal”, with neuronal structures needing to rst be a ected.

In this case, it was intracerebral bleeding

Verdict

Missing context. Covid-19 vaccines have not been proven to cause aphasia, a communication disorder.

The CDC has not detected an unusual rise of aphasia after vaccination.

Reports of aphasia and blood clots, which could cause aphasia, are much more common after Covid-19 infection itself than the shots.