Medicine Matters rheumatology

August 30, 2022: Findings from three studies provide additional data to support the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in young people with RMDs. An Israeli study found that mRNA vaccines are effective in preventing infection among adolescents with RMDs, while an analysis of the EULAR COVAX registry found reassuring safety results in this population. The final study included children and young people from the USA with Kawasaki disease, and also demonstrated that vaccination is well tolerated.

February 22, 2021: A study of 91 adolescents and young adults with juvenile-onset rheumatic diseases and 40 controls found that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have favorable safety and immunogenicity profiles. Over 80% of patients were on immunomodulatory therapy. Merav Heshin-Bekenstein (Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel) and co-authors concluded in Rheumatology that their findings "should provide reassurance" on COVID-19 vaccination in this population.

September 13, 2021: Findings from a study of 21 TNF inhibitor-treated adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis suggest that mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are well tolerated and do not provoke disease flares. Dimitra Dimopoulou (University of Athens, Greece) and colleagues conclude in a letter to Arthritis & Rheumatology that "further studies are needed to evaluate the immune response" to COVID-19 vaccination in this patient population.