Two-dose COVID-19 vaccination and possible arthritis flare among patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Hong Kong.
Ann Rheum Dis
; 81(4): 564-568, 2022 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1484001
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To investigate the relationship between COVID-19 full vaccination (two completed doses) and possible arthritis flare.METHODS:
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were identified from population-based electronic medical records with vaccination linkage and categorised into BNT162b2 (mRNA vaccine), CoronaVac (inactive virus vaccine) and non-vaccinated groups. The risk of possible arthritis flare after vaccination was compared using a propensity-weighted cohort study design. We defined possible arthritis flare as hospitalisation and outpatient consultation related to RA or reactive arthritis, based on diagnosis records during the episode. Weekly prescriptions of rheumatic drugs since the launch of COVID-19 vaccination programme were compared to complement the findings from a diagnosis-based analysis.RESULTS:
Among 5493 patients with RA (BNT162b2 653; CoronaVac 671; non-vaccinated 4169), propensity-scored weighted Poisson regression showed no significant association between arthritis flare and COVID-19 vaccination ((BNT162b2 adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.86, 95% Confidence Interval 0.73 to 1.01); CoronaVac 0.87 (0.74 to 1.02)). The distribution of weekly rheumatic drug prescriptions showed no significant differences among the three groups since the launch of the mass vaccination programme (all p values >0.1 from Kruskal-Wallis test).CONCLUSIONS:
Current evidence does not support that full vaccination of mRNA or inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccines is associated with possible arthritis flare.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
/
Symptom Flare Up
/
COVID-19 Vaccines
/
COVID-19
/
BNT162 Vaccine
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Ann Rheum Dis
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Annrheumdis-2021-221571
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