For patients with MS who received the COVID-19 vaccine, clinical disease worsening was uncommon and primarily related to symptom recurrence rather than new relapses, according to results published in Neurology Clinical Practice. Jenna Brunn, MD, and colleagues used online surveys to investigate incidence and severity of COVID-19 infection, vaccination status/ type, reasons for vaccine deferral, and post vaccination symptoms. Among 333 respondents, 292 were vaccinated, and 58% of vaccinated individuals reported post-vaccination side effects; such side effects were most common among individuals who received an mRNA vaccine (P=0.02), younger patients (P<0.01), and those with relapsing-remitting MS (P=0.03). Twelve percent of patients endorsed recrudescence of existing MS symptoms, while 3% endorsed new neurologic symptoms after vaccination. Furthermore, 62 individuals reported COVID-19 infection since the start of the pandemic, more often among younger patients (1-year OR, 0.958; 10-year OR, 0.649). Neither disease-modifying therapies nor B-cell therapies were associated with vaccine side effects, neurologic symptoms, or COVID-19 infection.
