Drug makes corona vaccination ineffective: danger for MS patients - "can cost me my life"

Created: 01/14/2022, 23:12

By: Verena Moeckl

The corona vaccination can be ineffective for people who suffer from multiple sclerosis.

© Robert Michael/dpa/symbol picture

A drug for multiple sclerosis can pose a threat to sufferers.

Because it prevents those affected from building up antibodies after a corona vaccination.

Augsburg – The corona numbers are increasing again and with them the fear of risk patients of being infected with the corona virus *. Above all, the corona vaccination offers protection against a severe course. But what if this is ineffective because no antibodies can form? The

describes the case of a woman from Augsburg. At the age of 30, doctors diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis*.

However, it is not the disease that poses a threat to Eva Ritter (name changed by

), but an MS drug* that she has to take.

"It puts a lot of pressure on the immune system, more specifically the B cells," she explains to

.

But she needs the B cells in particular to become immune to the virus.

"And that's exactly the problem with the vaccination, it can't work." The antibody test made that clear to her.

Even after a third vaccination, Ritter's body still hasn't built up any antibodies.

In short: the vaccinations are ineffective.

The vital drug is becoming a danger to them as the corona pandemic progresses.

Corona and MS: Drugs inhibit vaccination - great danger for those affected

Thousands of other people in Bavaria feel the same way as Eva Ritter.

An estimated 30,000 people have MS in Bavaria.

Many of them have problems with vaccination protection, says Augsburg neurologist Antonios Bayas.

In Swabia there are a thousand MS patients who are cared for by Bayas at the University Hospital in Augsburg*.

"The corona pandemic has meant that we have to think carefully about which therapies we use for many patients, because some of the therapies impair the response to the corona vaccination and there is a great need for advice," explains the neurologist to

.

I would give anything to have this vaccine and I can't get it.

Eva Ritter, MS patients

What proves effective against severe symptoms of multiple sclerosis may prove ineffective against severe courses of Covid-19.

Bayas says that a medical informatics project is currently intensively researching the interaction between medication and vaccination.

Large amounts of data are collected in order to be able to better assess the course of MS.

"We are also investigating the influence of the Covid infection, as well as the vaccination, on the immune system and also on the course of the disease in the patient," explains the doctor.

Great fear of infection: MS patients must be extremely careful

But the drug is not so easy to stop?

The risk of an enormous flare-up is too great.

The result would then be an even faster attack on the central nervous system of the patient.

Sick people therefore only have one way out: They have to be extremely careful.

Eva Ritter rarely leaves her house without a mask and she is also extremely careful in her personal environment.

She only meets friends in the fresh air, she tells

.

(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter* informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria. Register here.)

Eva Ritter has therefore made herself snuggly in her garden - with a radiant heater and blankets.

"My family and friends do everything to make it work, they sit outside with me at the fire bowl at Christmas because otherwise you couldn't see each other anymore," says Ritter in the

interview.

Vaccination ineffective: MS sufferers dependent on herd immunity

"I would give so much to have this vaccination and I don't get it," laments Ritter.

All the more she could not understand the unreasonableness of some people who voluntarily do without a vaccination.

Especially people like Ritter, who cannot experience vaccination protection due to previous illnesses, are dependent on herd immunity.

"I would never have thought that I would have to be so blatantly dependent on others, on strangers, because I was threatened with death," says Eva Ritter.

"It's a blatant experience when it could potentially cost me my life."

The autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis

The disease with a thousand faces

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in young adults.

It can lead to disabilities.

Symptoms and course of the disease must be considered individually for each patient.

It is therefore also called the disease of a thousand faces.

To date, multiple sclerosis cannot be cured.

But there are drugs that suppress violent flare-ups and delay the symptoms.

There are certain early warning signs* of multiple sclerosis.

You should never ignore this and go to the doctor immediately.