In Reply We thank the authors of the Letter to the Editor for stimulating further discussion. Tamaki et al explored the relationship between COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccine on Bell palsy (BP). Patients were counted as having Bell palsy if they received a diagnosis of International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code G51.0. Granular patient-level data may be lacking in an analysis of this magnitude, and it was not possible to differentiate persistent or recurrent BP. Likewise, it is difficult to accurately quality check the accuracy of coding without the benefit of reviewing clinical data. We plan to expand on our work with further analysis. We agree that research using large databases may be at risk for misclassification. However, such databases can be an effective resource i n studying rare pathologies, especially in specific populations such as those who have had COVID-19 or received the COVID-19 vaccination. Our propensity score matched analysis suggests that rates of BP are higher in patients who are positive for COVID-19 and this incidence exceeds the reported incidence of BP with the COVID-19 vaccine.
