Reuters Health: COVID vaccine proved safe, well tolerated in patients with rheumatic diseases
UC expert recommends further study differentiates between treatment, disease types
A new European study recently published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases shows that currently available COVID-19 vaccines rarely cause flares in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease. Flares were reported in less than 5% of all cases within the study.
While encouraging, Wenhai Shao, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology in the University of Cincinnati's Department of Internal Medicine, told Reuters Health that further studies should differentiate whether patients are taking immunosuppressants or other types of drugs, compare to healthy individuals and note the severity of the rheumatic or musculoskeletal diseases when the vaccination was given for more specific results.
"A bioinformatics approach could be used to analyze the data in these different ways," Shao said.
Read the Reuters Health article.
Featured photo at top of vaccination courtesy of Shutterstock.com
Related Stories
Mural by UC grad honors U.S. military history
July 17, 2024
Local 12 highlighted a new mural by University of Cincinnati graduate and artist Brandon Hawkins that pays tribute to U.S. military history.
Social media fuels extreme political rhetoric
July 17, 2024
UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Jeffrey Blevins tells Local 12 that online algorithms fuel political polarization on social media.
Camp aims to empower children, teens who stutter
July 17, 2024
A one-week, evidence-based program for children and teens who stutter at the University of Cincinnati will teach kids to communicate effectively, advocate for themselves and develop confidence about their communication abilities. Camp Dream. Speak. Live., which is coming to Cincinnati for the first time July 22-26, began in 2014 at the University of Texas at Austin. The Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research at UT expects to serve more than 2,000 children at camps across the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe this year.