Immunosuppressive drugs in atopic dermatitis do not reduce COVID-19 vaccine efficacy
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Immunosuppressive drugs for the treatment of atopic dermatitis did not reduce protection conferred by messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccination, according to a study.
“The effectiveness of messenger RNA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) is yet to be delineated,” Khalaf Kridin, MD, of the unit of dermatology and skin research laboratory at Baruch Padeh Poria Medical Center in Tiberias, Israel, and colleagues wrote.
“It remains largely unknown how AD-related immunosuppressive medications affect the development of vaccine-induced immunity,” the researchers continued.
In the population-based cohort study, the group assessed 77,682 adult patients with AD. Of those individuals, 75.4% had received two BNT162b2 messenger RNA vaccine doses.
The primary aim was to determine rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection, along with COVID-19-associated hospitalization and mortality. An additional analysis assessed the impact of AD-related immunosuppressive drugs on these outcomes.
Results showed that adult-onset disease predicted increased likelihood of vaccination (adjusted OR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.28-1.4), as did moderate to severe disease (aOR = 1.13; 95% CI, 1.05-1.21).
Vaccination among those with AD was associated with a significant decrease in risk for the virus (adjusted HR = 0.2; 95% CI, 0.16-0.26). Moreover, COVID-associated hospitalization (aHR = 0.08; 95% CI, 0.04-0.18) and mortality (aHR = 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01-0.2) also were lower among vaccinated AD patients.
The analysis also included 0.8% of the study population (n = 597) who had been treated with immunosuppressive drugs for AD. Exposure to these medications failed to impair protection against COVID-19 acquisition conferred by the vaccine (aHR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.13-6.81).
Further data showed that any exposure to immunosuppressive drugs did not impact the utility of the vaccine (aHR = 1.8; 95% CI, 0.57-5.69).
“In patients with AD, COVID-19 vaccination is highly effective for a wide range of COVID-19-related outcomes,” the researchers wrote. “Immunosuppressive drugs did not impair the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in this retrospective analysis.”