European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

COVID-19 VACCINE-RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL MANIFESTATIONS

Najlae El Ouardi*, Hajar Zouaki, Houda El Assad, Kanta Seiny, Abdellah Ould Mohamed, Kacem El Marbouh, Oumaima Mekhakh, Alassane Alidou Garba, Mohamadou Sagara, Wissal Belhadj, Laila Taoubane, Abderrahim Majjad, Hamza Toufik and Ahmed Bezza

ABSTRACT

Objective/Aim: We investigated the new onset musculoskeletal reactions after SARS-cov-2 vaccination in patients with and without pre-existing autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD). Methods: 200 participants, of whom 100 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or spondyloarthritis (SpA) at least 6 months before covid-19 pandemic. The inclusion period was from March 2023 to August 2024. A questionnaire regarding musculoskeletal reactions following the SARS-cov-2 vaccine was completed by the participants. Results: Of the 200 participants, 100 were diagnosed with AIIRD (71 RA and 29 SpA) and 100 were healthy control (patients with no previous antecedent of AIIRD). Antecedent of covid-19 infection was noted in 26% patients with AIIRD and 11.7% patients-control. Compared with health care participants, the prevalence of patients with AIIRD who received the covid-19 booster with the fourth dose was higher (17% versus 2%). Fear over the vaccine’s side effects was the most common cause of discontinuing the vaccination protocol in individuals with and without AIIRD for the first three doses. Overall, 30 musculoskeletal reactions following covid-19 vaccination have been reported. Of whom 24 were followed for RA or SpA. fourth patients experienced mild reactivation of arthritis after vaccination. Arthralgia was the most common reported musculoskeletal reaction. One patient developed erosive seronegative RA difficult to treat. AstraZeneca vaccine administration was reported in most of the musculoskeletal cases. Antecedent of covid-19 infection and the pre-existing AIIRD increased the risk of developing post covid-19 musculoskeletal manifestations (p=0.03, p=0.001 respectively). Conclusion: This study reports a low occurrence of new-onset musculoskeletal reactions post covid-19 vaccines.

Keywords: Covid-19 vaccine, musculoskeletal manifestations, rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases.