Safety and Tolerability of COVID-19 Vaccine in Mast Cell Disorders Real-Life Data from a Single Centre in Italy

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) 2024-02, Vol.12 (2), p.202
• Main Authors: Nicola, Stefania, Mazzola, Marina, Lo Sardo, Luca, Montabone, Erika, Badiu, Iuliana, Corradi, Federica, Azzolina, Maria Carmen Rita, Dall'Acqua, Maurizio Gaspare, Rolla, Giovanni, Ridolfi, Irene, Quinternetto, Anna, Brussino, Luisa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Allergic reactions; Allergies; Anaphylaxis; Antigens; Bone marrow; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Data collection; Dermatitis; Disease transmission; Disorders; Drug dosages; Health aspects; Histamine; Hyperplasia; Immunology; Kinases; Mast cells; MicroRNAs; Pandemics; Patients; premedication; Risk; Safety; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; tolerability; vaccine; Vaccines
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12020202

In the past three years, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the healthcare systems and people's safety worldwide. Mass vaccinations dramatically improved the health and economic damage caused by SARS-CoV-2. However, the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in patients at high risk of allergic reactions still has many unmet needs that should be clarified. A retrospective, single-centre study was performed by collecting demographic and clinical data of patients with Mast Cell Disorders (MCDs) to evaluate the safety and tolerability of COVID-19 vaccinations. Moreover, any changes in the natural history of the underlying disease following the vaccine have been evaluated. This study included 66 patients affected with MCDs. Out of them, 52 (78.8%) received a COVID-19 vaccination and 41 (78.8%) completed the vaccination course. Premedication came first in 86.6% of our patients. A total of seven (4.5%) patients complained about an immediate reaction and two (1.3%) had a late reaction. Worsening of MCD history was observed in a single patient. Despite the overall high risk of allergic reactions, our study did not reveal any increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 allergic reactions in MCD patients, thus supporting the recommendation in favour of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. However, due to the potentially increased rate of anaphylactic reactions, MCD patients should receive vaccine premedication and should be treated in a hospital setting after an allergological specialistic evaluation.