Varicella Zoster Virus Reactivation Following COVID‐19 Vaccination in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases: A cross‐sectional Chinese study of 318 cases

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Varicella Zoster Virus Reactivation Following COVID‐19 Vaccination in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases: A cross‐sectional Chinese study of 318 cases via Journal of Medical Virology Abstract Recently, varicella-zoster virus (VZV) reactivation has been observed after the administration of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. Autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRDs) patients are at a higher risk for VZV reactivation for immunocompromised status. The study aimed to investigate the adverse events (AEs), especially VZV reactivation, following vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in a Chinese cohort of AIIRD patients. A cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire was conducted among AIIRD patients and healthy controls (HCs). Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify potential factors associated with VZV reactivation. 318 AIIRD patients and 318 age and sex-matched HCs who got COVID-19 inactivated vaccines were recruited. The main AIIRDs are rheumatoid arthritis (31.8%) and systemic lupus erythematous (23.9%). Most of patients (85.5%) had stable disease and 13.2% of them had aggravation after vaccination. Compared to H Cs, patients had higher rates of rash (p=0.001), arthralgia (p<0.001) and insomnia (p=0.007). In addition, there were 6 (1.9%) AIIRD patients and 5 (1.6%) HCs reported VZV reactivation after the COVID-19 vaccination (p=0.761). Multivariate logistic regression analysis illustrated that diabetes mellitus (OR, 20.69; 95%CI, 1.08-396.79; p=0.044), chronic hepatitis B virus infection (OR, 24.34; 95%CI, 1.27-466.74; p=0.034), and mycophenolate mofetil (OR, 40.61; 95%CI, 3.33-496.15; p=0.004) independently identified patients with VZV reactivation. Our findings showed that the inactivated COVID-19 vaccination was safe for AIIRD patients though some patients could suffer from VZV reactivation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. View on Web

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