Safety of COVID-19 vaccine in patients with myasthenia gravis: a self-controlled case series study

Front Immunol. 2023 May 8:14:1141983. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1141983. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Background: The safety of COVID-19 vaccines has been clarified in clinical trials; however, some immunocompromised patients, such as myasthenia gravis (MG) patients, are still hesitant to receive vaccines. Whether COVID-19 vaccination increases the risk of disease worsening in these patients remains unknown. This study aims to evaluate the risk of disease exacerbation in COVID-19-vaccinated MG patients.

Methods: The data in this study were collected from the MG database at Tangdu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, and the Tertiary Referral Diagnostic Center at Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, from 1 April 2022 to 31 October 2022. A self-controlled case series method was applied, and the incidence rate ratios were calculated in the prespecified risk period using conditional Poisson regression.

Results: Inactivated COVID-19 vaccines did not increase the risk of disease exacerbation in MG patients with stable disease status. A few patients experienced transient disease worsening, but the symptoms were mild. It is noted that more attention should be paid to thymoma-related MG, especially within 1 week after COVID-19 vaccination.

Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccination has no long-term impact on MG relapse.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccines; myasthenia gravis; self-control study; vaccine hesitancy; vaccine safety.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 Vaccines* / administration & dosage
  • COVID-19 Vaccines* / adverse effects
  • COVID-19* / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Myasthenia Gravis*
  • Research Design
  • Tertiary Care Centers
  • Thymus Neoplasms*

Substances

  • COVID-19 Vaccines

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan (Grant No. 2022YFC3501304), the Discipline Innovation and Development Plan of Tangdu Hospital–Major Program of Clinical Research (Grant No. 2021LCYJ002), and the Key Research and Development Projects of Shaanxi Province (Grant No. 2021ZDLSF02-01).