Scientists have discovered a potential new link

[ad_1]

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are a type of vaccine that uses a small piece of the virus’s genetic material, called messenger RNA (mRNA), to help the body’s immune system recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID -19. mRNA vaccines have been shown to be effective in preventing COVID-19 infection and their use has been authorized by regulatory agencies around the world.

There have been concerns about side effects of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, such as fever and fatigue, which are generally considered normal and transient. However, the relationship between these side effects and the production of antibodies after receiving the vaccine has not been thoroughly studied.

A team of researchers from Okayama University recently conducted a study to examine this link. They recruited 49 university staff and students who had never had COVID-19 before and found that there is a relationship between the incidence of fever and the number of antibodies, especially after the third vaccine dose. Their findings were published in the Journal of Epidemiology.

mRNA vaccines mimic the surface structure of SARS-CoV-2 in the body. These are then recognized as invading pathogens by immune cells, which create antibodies against them. Accordingly, the number of antibodies can be used to quantify the immune system’s response to vaccination.

Dynamics of immunoglobulins G (IgG) in the first week after vaccination by presence or absence of post-vaccination fever. The red and blue lines show the mean IgG concentrations predicted by the mixed-effects model in the febrile and non-febrile groups, respectively. The area of ​​each color indicates the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the regression line. Day 0 is a negative value due to the effect of modeling prediction. Credit: Yorifuji Takashi, University of Okayama

All subjects were questioned for adverse effects one week after receiving the third dose of mRNA-1273 vaccine. Simultaneously, the antibody levels of all subjects were measured just before receiving the vaccine, 3 days after, about 1 week after and finally 1 month after the dose. Using statistical modeling, correlations between the incidence of fever and antibody levels at various time points were stipulated. To account for factors contributing to the onset of fever after vaccination, the team also looked at gender, age differences, history of allergy and use of antipyretics (antipyretic drugs) among the attendees.

Subjects were then categorized into a group with or without fever based on the survey results. It was found that the fever group was more likely to be younger (20 to 49 years old) and had a history of allergies. Next, antibody levels at different times in both groups were analyzed. One week after vaccination, the febrile group had significantly higher antibody counts than the fever-free group. However, 1 month after vaccination, there did not appear to be a correlation between the incidence of fever and elevated antibody levels.

This is the first study to show associations between fever induction and antibody levels at different times after the third dose of the mRNA-1273 vaccine. Antibody titers after mRNA-1273 vaccination may be faster in the group with post-vaccination fever, but the difference may not be significant 1 month after vaccination, the team concludes. The researchers also suggest that while these conflicting observations may not have significant clinical relevance, a study with a larger sample size might provide better information.

Reference: Association between fever and antibody titer trends after a third dose of the mRNA-1273 vaccine by Naomi Matsumoto, Tomoka Kadowaki, Rumi Matsuo, Ayako Sasaki, Chikara Miyaji, Chigusa Higuchi, Masanori Nakayama, Yasue Sakurada, Hideharu Hagiya , Soshi Takao, Fumio Otsuka and Takashi Yorifuji, 2022 Dec 5, Journal of Epidemiology.DOI: 10.2188/jea.JE20220210

[ad_2]