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SINGAPORE - Claims that mRNA Covid-19 vaccines could cause neurological diseases such as Alzheimer s and Parkinson s have been making the rounds on social media and messaging apps recently.
They come after the publication of a research paper in scientific journal Scivision, which suggested that mRNA vaccines such as the ones developed by Pfizer and Moderna could potentially trigger prion disease.
But local scientists have been quick to debunk these claims.
Professor Paul Tambyah, deputy director of the National University of Singapore s Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme, said that prion disease is a result of one s proteins adopting an unusual arrangement, causing them to aggregate.
Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease: Singapore researchers discover protein that causes neurological complications Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease: Singapore researchers discover protein that causes neurological complications
Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD)
Image/shawn c
While most HFMD patients experience common symptoms such as sore throat, fever, ulcers inside the mouth and blisters and lesions on the palms and soles, infection with Enterovirus-A71 (EV-A71) may lead to serious neurological complications that can be potentially fatal or lead to long-term neurological deficits (cognitive and motor deficits). These complicated HFMD cases are mainly seen in young children.
Researchers from NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine‘s Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme have identified two new proteins that play a critical role in the ability of EV-A71 to invade the central nervous system. One of these proteins is a druggable target, which means that there are dru