The effect of COVID‐19 vaccination on multiple sclerosis activity as reflected by MRI

Introduction Examining the safety of theBNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients remains inconclusive, particularly regarding the potential for disease exacerbations. This study aims to assess the effects of BNT162b2 COVID‐19 vaccination on disease activity in MS patients through se...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Brain and behavior Vol. 14; no. 7; pp. e3587 - n/a
Main Authors:	Ganelin‐Cohen, Esther, Buxbaum, Chen, Bosak, Noam, Sobol, Shani, Vaknin‐Dembinsky, Adi, Hellmann, Mark A, Wilf‐Yarkoni, Adi, Regev, Keren, Pustovoyt, Elizaveta, Shifrin, Alla, Wexler, Yair, Rozenberg, Ayal
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-07-2024 Wiley
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Age BNT162 Vaccine Brain - diagnostic imaging Brain - pathology COVID-19 - prevention & control COVID-19 vaccines COVID-19 Vaccines - administration & dosage COVID-19 Vaccines - adverse effects COVID‐19 Disease disease‐modifying therapy expanded disability status scale Female Humans Immunology Israel - epidemiology Magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods Male mRNA vaccine mRNA vaccines Multiple sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis - diagnostic imaging Patients Proteins relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis Retrospective Studies Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Vaccination - adverse effects Young Adult Israel expanded disability status scale disease‐modifying therapy COVID‐19 relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis mRNA vaccine
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Introduction Examining the safety of theBNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients remains inconclusive, particularly regarding the potential for disease exacerbations. This study aims to assess the effects of BNT162b2 COVID‐19 vaccination on disease activity in MS patients through sequential MRI imaging. Methods A retrospective study of 84 MS patients from five Israeli hospitals was conducted. MS lesion load was determined from three brain MRI scans, one postvaccination and two prevaccination scans. A post hoc analysis compared subgroups featuring vaccinated and unvaccinated patients respectively, with early onset MS. Results The cohort included 70 women with early onset (mean age 16.4 ± 0.8 years) and adult onset (mean age 34.9 ± 1.1 years) MS. Among the early onset group, vaccinated patients showed an increased risk of new lesions (p = .00026), while there was no increased risk among adult‐onset patients. Additionally, a comparison between early onset vaccinated and nonvaccinated groups revealed a higher risk of increased lesions in the vaccinated group (p = .024). Discussion Overall, the study suggests that the BNT162b2 vaccine is generally safe in MS patients, with no association found between vaccination and new lesions in most patients. However, close MRI follow‐up is recommended for early‐onset MS cases to monitor lesion development. Our findings support the safety of BNT162b2 COVID‐19 vaccination is safe for most MS patients, except for young patients who demonstrate increased lesions after vaccination. However, further studies with a larger sample size of patients who were not vaccinated or recovered from COVID‐19 are needed. An extensive consideration of risk factors is needed to clarify the relationship between immunization and MS activity.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2162-3279 2162-3279
DOI:	10.1002/brb3.3587