Key clinical point: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who were untreated or received immunomodulatory disease-modifying treatments (IM-DMT) showed excellent seroconversion rates after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination; however, immunosuppressive DMT (IS-DMT) was associated with lower seroconversion rates.
Major finding: For these patients 3 months after vaccine dose seroconversion occurred in 96.7% of untreated, 97.1% of IM-DMT treated, and 61.1% of IS-DMT treated patients vs. 97.4% of healthy control individuals ( P < .001), with IS-DMT being the only significant predictor of seroconversion (odds ratio 0.04; P < .001).
Study details: The finding comes from a multicenter, prospective study involving 456 patients with MS who were either untreated (n = 91) or treated with DMT ( IM-DMT, n = 139; IS-DMT, n = 226 ) and 116 healthy control individuals, all of whom were willing to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the Austrian Multiple Sclerosis Society and others. Some of the authors declared serving as an advisor or receiving speaker honoraria, scientific grants, travel funding, and consulting from various sources.
Source: Bsteh G et al. Eur J Neurol. 2022 (Feb 1). Doi: 10.1111/ene.15265