Vaccines (May 2022)

Safety of Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 among Polish Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Treated with Disease-Modifying Therapies

  • Agata Czarnowska,
  • Joanna Tarasiuk,
  • Olga Zajkowska,
  • Marcin Wnuk,
  • Monika Marona,
  • Klaudia Nowak,
  • Agnieszka Słowik,
  • Anna Jamroz-Wiśniewska,
  • Konrad Rejdak,
  • Beata Lech,
  • Małgorzata Popiel,
  • Iwona Rościszewska-Żukowska,
  • Adam Perenc,
  • Halina Bartosik-Psujek,
  • Mariola Świderek-Matysiak,
  • Małgorzata Siger,
  • Agnieszka Ciach,
  • Agata Walczak,
  • Anna Jurewicz,
  • Mariusz Stasiołek,
  • Karolina Kania,
  • Klara Dyczkowska,
  • Alicja Kalinowska-Łyszczarz,
  • Weronika Galus,
  • Anna Walawska-Hrycek,
  • Ewa Krzystanek,
  • Justyna Chojdak-Łukasiewicz,
  • Jakub Ubysz,
  • Anna Pokryszko-Dragan,
  • Katarzyna Kapica-Topczewska,
  • Monika Chorąży,
  • Marcin Bazylewicz,
  • Anna Mirończuk,
  • Joanna Kulikowska,
  • Jan Kochanowicz,
  • Marta Białek,
  • Małgorzata Stolarz,
  • Katarzyna Kubicka-Bączyk,
  • Natalia Niedziela,
  • Natalia Morawiec,
  • Monika Adamczyk-Sowa,
  • Aleksandra Podlecka-Piętowska,
  • Monika Nojszewska,
  • Beata Zakrzewska-Pniewska,
  • Elżbieta Jasińska,
  • Jacek Zaborski,
  • Marta Milewska-Jędrzejczak,
  • Jacek Zwiernik,
  • Beata Zwiernik,
  • Andrzej Potemkowski,
  • Waldemar Brola,
  • Alina Kułakowska

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10050763
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 5
p. 763

Abstract

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(1) Background: The present study aims to report the side effects of vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who were being treated with disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in Poland. (2) Methods: The study included 2261 patients with MS who were being treated with DMTs, and who were vaccinated against COVID-19 in 16 Polish MS centers. The data collected were demographic information, specific MS characteristics, current DMTs, type of vaccine, side effects after vaccination, time of side-effect symptom onset and resolution, applied treatment, relapse occurrence, and incidence of COVID-19 after vaccination. The results were presented using maximum likelihood estimates of the odds ratio, t-test, Pearson’s chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact p, and logistic regression. The statistical analyses were performed using STATA 15 software. (3) Of the 2261 sampled patients, 1862 (82.4%) were vaccinated with nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Mild symptoms after immunization, often after the first dose, were reported in 70.6% of individuals. Symptoms included arm pain (47.5% after the first dose and 38.7% after the second dose), fever/chills/flu-like symptoms (17.1% after the first dose and 20.5% after the second dose), and fatigue (10.3% after the first dose and 11.3% after the second dose). Only one individual presented with severe side effects (pro-thrombotic complications) after vaccination. None of the DMTs in the presented cohort were predisposed to the development of side effects. Nine patients (0.4%) had a SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed despite vaccination. (4) Conclusions: Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is safe for people with MS who are being treated with DMTs. Most adverse events following vaccination are mild and the acute relapse incidence is low.

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