I recently treated a 70-year old female patient who developed autoimmune reactions after the 2nd Covid-19 vaccine shot. She was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and responded poorly to both oral and topical steroid treatment. She had swelling painful knees and scaly rashes on both legs. I focused on her blood sugar control, weight, and stress management using acupuncture, customized herbal and dietary therapy. After 6 weeks, she lost 8 pounds and all the symptoms went away. What triggered her symptoms- poor diet, stress, obesity, and sedentary lifestyle or vaccine? With these questions, I did literature reviews.
So far, vaccinations are recommended for patients with autoimmune diseases by major national and international medical societies. However, the vaccine uptake rates are low. As an example, in a large multinational cohort study evaluating 3920 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, over half of the patients had never received an influenza vaccination. There is a theoretical concern that the immune response to vaccination may induce autoimmune disease exacerbations- the molecular mimicry in which generated antibodies attack one’s cells due to cross-reactivity. Although both Moderna and Pfizer clinical trials exclude patients with autoimmune diseases or immune-suppressed patients. CDC recommends the Covid-19 vaccine for these groups of population based on limited evidence suggesting that administering vaccines does not augment disease activity. As time passing by, millions more worldwide will receive Covid-19 vaccines. Hope more statistical data will come out to clarify the pros and cons of the covid-19 vaccine on autoimmune conditions.
