Neutralizing antibiotic response to mutation…50% of medical personnel, 26% of rheumatoid patients
“The effectiveness of the vaccine is low if you have rheumatic disease being treated with immunosuppressive drugs”
[현대건강신문] As a result of a study by Korean medical staff, it was found that patients with rheumatism have a high risk of breakthrough infection even if they receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Patients with rheumatoid diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, ankylosing spondylitis, and Behcet’s disease are known to have a high mortality rate when infected with COVID-19, so vaccination once morest COVID-19 is essential.
However, it was investigated that the neutralizing antibody response to the Omicron mutant virus was not sufficient even if the rheumatoid disease patient was vaccinated with the booster (3rd) vaccine.
A research team led by Professor Choi Seong-ho and Jeong Jin-won of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Chung-Ang University Hospital and Professor Choi Sang-tae of the Department of Rheumatology recently published a research paper on the effect of a booster vaccine once morest the Corona 19 Omicron mutant virus in patients with rheumatic diseases.
The research team at Chung-Ang University Hospital collected the serum of 94 healthy medical personnel who received the Corona 19 booster vaccine (mRNA) and 149 patients with rheumatic disease who were receiving immunosuppressive drugs or anti-rheumatic treatment to measure and neutralize the neutralizing antibody response that suppresses the Omicron mutant virus. The relationship between the antibody response and the occurrence of breakthrough infection was investigated.
After the third vaccine booster inoculation, the neutralizing antibody response to the existing coronavirus was expected in 97.2% of medical personnel and 88.1% of rheumatoid disease patients, but a neutralizing antibody response to the Omicron mutant virus was 50.3% in medical personnel, In rheumatic disease patients, 26.8% were investigated.
The research team said, “Through this, it was found that the neutralizing antibody response to the omicron-mutated virus of rheumatoid disease patients was lower than that of the existing coronavirus, and even lower than that of healthy medical personnel, even following the third inoculation. The effect of the inoculation was further reduced, and the neutralizing antibody response to the time-dependent omicron mutation following the third inoculation decreased by 0.351% per day.”
Through this study, it was also confirmed that breakthrough infection was more likely to occur if the neutralizing antibody response was weak because the neutralizing antibody response was measured to be lower in patients with breakthrough infection compared to patients without breakthrough infection.
Professor Jin-Won Jeong said, “For patients with rheumatic disease who are taking immunosuppressants or antirheumatic drugs, it is not easy to prevent omicron breakthrough infection with booster vaccination alone. “There is a need for continuous research on vaccine effectiveness and development of new vaccines for immunocompromised patients, such as patients with rheumatic diseases,” he said.
Meanwhile, this research paper was published in the latest issue of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (Influence Index = 27.973), an SCI-level journal in the field of rheumatoid diseases.
