COVID-19 vaccines safe, effective in NAFLD patients

Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 does not seem to come with significant safety concerns in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a recent study has found. At the same time, vaccines can also elicit a robust neutralizing antibody response.

The study included 381 NAFLD patients (median age 39.0 years, 47.0 percent men) who had never had the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). All participants had received two doses of an inactivated virus vaccine, 14 days after which blood samples were collected. Neutralizing antibodies were detected using magnetic particle chemiluminescence assays. The primary safety outcome of interest was the occurrence of adverse events within 7 days after each injection.

Overall, 95 patients saw adverse reactions within 7 days after each injection, while 112 patients had adverse reactions within 28 days. The most common side effects were injection site pain (n=70; 18.4 percent), muscle pain (n=21; 5.5 percent), headache (n=20; 5.2 percent), and fatigue (n=18; 4.7 percent).

All adverse events were mild and self-limiting; there were no grade 3 reactions recorded.

In terms of immunogenicity, neutralizing antibodies were first detected after a median of 39.0 days. Almost all (95.5 percent; n=364) of the patients vaccinated showed neutralizing antibodies, with a median titre of 32.

“A larger prospective follow-up study for robust evidence of efficacy (ie, protection against severe disease and death) is needed,” the researchers said. “In conclusion, the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe with good immunogenicity in patients with NAFLD.”