Should people with MS or other autoimmune diseases get vaccinated against corona?
The RKI makes the following recommendation.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) *, chronic inflammation of the thyroid gland (Hashimoto's thyroiditis), intestinal inflammation of Crohn's disease or rheumatism: In people with autoimmune disorders, the body's own defense system is wrongly directed against healthy organs and tissue structures. The body then forms antibodies against these structures - attacks itself, so to speak. A disorder of the immune system is the reason for this. Most people with autoimmune diseases can live without restrictions thanks to drug and other therapies. However, many are dependent on lifelong treatment.
In Germany, about eight percent of the population is affected by an autoimmune disease
, as reported by the Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (mdr).
If the body is weakened anyway, should you expose yourself to a corona vaccination
? These or similar questions mainly concern people with previous illnesses. But this is where the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) as the Federal Institute for Infectious Diseases and Non-Communicable Diseases sees a particular need. Therefore, people with asthma, cardiovascular diseases, cancer or other diseases / previous illnesses were ranked above in the vaccination priority.
People with an autoimmune disease also belong to the third priority group
.
"Autoimmune diseases or chronic inflammatory diseases (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases) are generally not a contraindication for vaccinations", according to the RKI statement.
Studies could not show a link between a vaccination and a newly developed autoimmune disease or a flare-up of an existing disease.
+
The medical director Christian Peiper explains to the medical student Sara Rawecki from the University of Stettin on October 23, 2017 in the Evangelical Hospital in Hamm (North Rhine-Westphalia) the use of an ultrasound on a thyroid gland (thyroid sonography).
Chronic inflammation of the thyroid gland such as Hashimoto can be detected in this way.
© Guido Kirchner / dpa
Corona vaccination for autoimmune diseases lowers risk of relapses
In non-vaccinated autoimmune patients, infection with the pathogen would increase the risk of serious disease and also the risk of death, it said. The risk of relapses of the autoimmune disease is also increased. "
Vaccinations can thus reduce the risk of symptomatic illnesses caused by the respective pathogen and of infection-triggered relapses of the underlying disease,
" according to the RKI recommendation. According to the RKI, a fundamental distinction must be made between the course of the disease with and without immunosuppressive therapy with regard to the vaccination indication. More information can be found here.
In general, for people with autoimmune diseases, the attending physician must be involved in the vaccination decision.
He knows the history of the disease and can give expert advice on whether there are any interactions between the current therapy and the corona vaccination.
For example, Karen Costenbader, director of the Lupus program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Massachusetts, advises: “Lupus patients should
discuss
their
vaccination plans with their doctors
to find out how their current regimen might be affected by the vaccine.
In this way, the best time for a vaccination can be determined, ”she is quoted by the medical newspaper.
Third-party vaccination for people with autoimmune diseases?
Missing corona antibodies possible after vaccination
A new study at the German Center for Immunotherapy (DZI) comes to the result that people with autoimmune diseases suffer less side effects such as flu-like symptoms after the corona vaccination. However, one in ten of them does not develop antibodies after vaccination with the active ingredient in mRNA from Biontech, according to another study result. As a result, those affected are less or not at all protected against a severe course of Covid, the mdr continues. Chronic inflammation in the body is believed to be responsible, the study directors said - not the anti-inflammatory drugs the study participants were taking.
The researchers therefore recommend testing the antibodies two weeks after the second vaccination and, if necessary, giving a third vaccination
- preferably with another (vector) vaccine, according to the mdr.
Read more
: Effectiveness of the corona vaccination: If you exceed this weight, you risk poorer vaccination protection. *
(jg) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
More sources: https://www.gesundheit.gv.at/krankheiten/;
https://www.deutsche-apotheker-zeitung.de/daz-az/2021/daz-7-2021/
These viruses and bacteria make us sick
These viruses and bacteria make us sick
List of rubric lists: © Guido Kirchner
