Reuters Health: COVID vaccine proved safe, well tolerated in patients with rheumatic diseases

A new European study recently published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases shows that currently available COVID-19 vaccines rarely cause flares in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease. Flares were reported in less than 5% of all cases within the study.

While encouraging, Wenhai Shao, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology in the University of Cincinnati's Department of Internal Medicine, told Reuters Health that further studies should differentiate whether patients are taking immunosuppressants or other types of drugs, compare to healthy individuals and note the severity of the rheumatic or musculoskeletal diseases when the vaccination was given for more specific results.

"A bioinformatics approach could be used to analyze the data in these different ways," Shao said.

Read the Reuters Health article.

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