Immune Response of Adult Sickle Cell Disease Patients after COVID-19 Vaccination: The Experience of a Greek Center.

Christos Varelas,Apostolia Papalexandri,Dimitrios Chatzidimitriou,Andreas Kourelis,Ioanna Sakellari,Eleni Gavriilaki,Ioulia Mavrikou,Fani Chatzopoulou,Achilles Anagnostopoulos,Efthimia Vlachaki,Philippos Klonizakis,Ioanna Christodoulou,Tasoula Touloumenidou,Evaggelia-Evdoxia Koravou

doi:10.3390/jcm11040937

Abstract

Vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are essential weapons to control the spread of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and protect immunocompromised patients. With a greater susceptibility to infection, sickle cell disease (SCD) patients are considered as “high risk” patients during the current COVID-19 pandemic. In our study, we try to determine the immune response of adult SCD patients monitored at our center after the first and second dose of the qualified mRNA vaccines available and correlate them to several disease-specific markers, as well as complement activation. The results demonstrate that the levels of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 were adequate for most patients studied after the second dose and there seemed to be a certain association with complement activation. Further studies are critical to determine the durability of this immune response and the potential benefit of a third dose.

Highlights

Published: 11 February 2022The constantly evolving threat of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease-19 pandemic (COVID-19) has put under pressure healthcare systems around the globe and is considered a major concern of public health significance that has already caused millions of deaths [1]
COVID-19 and given the lack of relevant data available concerning their immune response after the first and second doses of the vaccine, we studied the levels of protective antibodies against COVID-19 in adult sickle cell disease (SCD) patients after their vaccination
Among 53 adult SCD patients monitored at our center, 25 were studied after their first dose with an mRNA vaccine, of whom 23 were vaccinated with BNT162b2

Summary

Introduction

Published: 11 February 2022The constantly evolving threat of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease-19 pandemic (COVID-19) has put under pressure healthcare systems around the globe and is considered a major concern of public health significance that has already caused millions of deaths [1]. There are still not enough data on the immune response achieved by adult SCD patients after their COVID-19 vaccination. COVID-19 and given the lack of relevant data available concerning their immune response after the first and second doses of the vaccine, we studied the levels of protective antibodies against COVID-19 in adult SCD patients after their vaccination.

Results

Conclusion