COVID-19 vaccination for patients with epilepsy: A Chinese expert consensus

Xuewu Liu; Qun Wang; Liankun Ren; Xiqin Fang; Zhiyi He; Jing Ding; Kang Wang; Huiqin Xu; Hua Zhang; Yijun Song; Qiang Lu; Meizhen Sun; Xiong Han; Lili Cao; Weihong Lin; Xiaoyi Li; Qing Zhang; Yao Ding; Furong Wang; Tiancheng Wang; Jiwen Wang; Xiaorong Liu; Yuan Wu; Yangmei Chen; Zhanhui Feng; Shoulei Wang; Xiangqing Wang; Yuguang Guan; Xufang Xie; Huapin Huang; Ming Zhang; Xiaoshan Wang; Zhen Hong; Wen Jiang; Yanbing Han; Yulei Deng; Jiangming Zhao; Jianxiang Liao; Yu Wang; Yajun Lian

doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109387

COVID-19 vaccination for patients with epilepsy: A Chinese expert consensus

Epilepsy Behav. 2023 Oct:147:109387. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109387. Epub 2023 Aug 23.

Authors

Xuewu Liu¹, Qun Wang², Liankun Ren³, Xiqin Fang⁴, Zhiyi He⁵, Jing Ding⁶, Kang Wang⁷, Huiqin Xu⁸, Hua Zhang⁹, Yijun Song¹⁰, Qiang Lu¹¹, Meizhen Sun¹², Xiong Han¹³, Lili Cao¹⁴, Weihong Lin¹⁵, Xiaoyi Li¹⁶, Qing Zhang¹⁷, Yao Ding¹⁸, Furong Wang¹⁹, Tiancheng Wang²⁰, Jiwen Wang²¹, Xiaorong Liu²², Yuan Wu²³, Yangmei Chen²⁴, Zhanhui Feng²⁵, Shoulei Wang²⁶, Xiangqing Wang²⁷, Yuguang Guan²⁸, Xufang Xie²⁹, Huapin Huang³⁰, Ming Zhang³¹, Xiaoshan Wang³², Zhen Hong³³, Wen Jiang³⁴, Yanbing Han³⁵, Yulei Deng³⁶, Jiangming Zhao³⁷, Jianxiang Liao³⁸, Yu Wang³⁹, Yajun Lian⁴⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China. Electronic address: snlxw1966@163.com.
² Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing, China. Electronic address: wangq@ccmu.edu.cn.
³ Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Clinical Research Center for Epilepsy, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Disorders, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China; Institute of Epilepsy, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
⁵ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁷ Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁸ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
⁹ Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an JiaoTong University, Xi'an, China.
¹⁰ Hematology Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Institute of Hematology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences), Tianjing, China.
¹¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China.
¹² Departmen of Neurology, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
¹³ Department of Neurology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China.
¹⁴ Department of Neurology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
¹⁵ Department of Neurology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
¹⁶ Department of Neurology, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang, China.
¹⁷ Department of Neurology, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuang, China.
¹⁸ Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, Zhejiang University School of Medicine Second Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
¹⁹ Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
²⁰ Department of Neurology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China.
²¹ Department of Neurology, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
²² Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China.
²³ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
²⁴ Department of Neurology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
²⁵ Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
²⁶ Department of Pediatrics, Qinghai Province Women and Children's Hospital, Xining, China.
²⁷ Department of Neurology, The First Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijnig, China.
²⁸ Department of Neurosurgery, Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijnig, China.
²⁹ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.
³⁰ Department of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
³¹ Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.
³² Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
³³ Department of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
³⁴ Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
³⁵ Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
³⁶ Department of Neurology & Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
³⁷ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC (Anhui Provincial Hospital), Hefei, China.
³⁸ Department of Pediatrics, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
³⁹ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
⁴⁰ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.

PMID: 37625346
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109387

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) first emerged in late 2019 and has since spread worldwide. More than 600 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and over 6 million have died. Vaccination against COVID-19 is one of the best ways to protect humans. Epilepsy is a common disease, and there are approximately 10 million patients with epilepsy (PWE) in China. However, China has listed "uncontrolled epilepsy" as a contraindication for COVID-19 vaccination, which makes many PWE reluctant to get COVID-19 vaccination, greatly affecting the health of these patients in the COVID-19 epidemic. However, recent clinical practice has shown that although a small percentage of PWE may experience an increased frequency of seizures after COVID-19 vaccination, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination for PWE far outweigh the risks, suggesting that COVID-19 vaccination is safe and recommended for PWE. Nonetheless, vaccination strategies vary for different PWE, and this consensus provides specific recommendations for PWE to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Epilepsy; Seizure; Vaccine.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Vaccines / adverse effects
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Consensus
East Asian People
Epilepsy* / complications
Epilepsy* / epidemiology
Humans
Vaccination

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines