Seroconversion among rituximab-treated patients following SARS-CoV-2 vaccine supplemental dose.
Clin Immunol
; 245: 109144, 2022 Dec.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2122391
ABSTRACT
Rituximab (RTX) is a very effective treatment for autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRD), but it increases infection risk and impairs vaccine responses. Herein we evaluated the antibody response of RTX-treated patients to the supplemental COVID-19 vaccine. After the supplemental dose, 53.1% of patients had detectable antibody titers. Only 36% of patients who did not mount an antibody response after the original vaccine series did have detectable antibodies after the supplemental dose (seroconversion). Patients with undetectable CD20+ cell levels did not seroconvert while hypogammaglobulinemia was associated with a 15-times decrease in the likelihood of seroconversion. Although we noted 11 COVID-19 infections after the supplemental dose, no patients who received monoclonal antibodies pre-exposure prophylaxis had COVID-19 afterwards. We propose that patients receiving RTX should continue to be prioritized for prophylaxis measures and that vaccination should be timed after B cell recovery wherever possible.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Autoimmune Diseases
/
COVID-19
/
COVID-19 Drug Treatment
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Clin Immunol
Journal subject:
Allergy and Immunology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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