Steroids and the vaccine

[Sue]

Some very worrying preliminary (I stress preliminary) research has been done which suggests that even very low doses of a steroid such as Prednisolone can reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.

I think it was done with the Pfizer vaccine so it may not apply to other vaccines.

Just a heads up that if you are on steroids you may not be as protected as you had hoped after your two jabs 😭

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.05.21254656v1

[Penguin68]

suggests that even very low doses of a steroid such as Prednisolone can reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.

I cannot see any statement as to dosage levels in the linked abstract, nor to the severity of the Chronic Inflammatory Disease (CID) in the 135 patients studied. Nor any listing of proprietary drugs (but of core ingredients of these drugs). The precautionary statement "This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice." should be noted.

By all means draw the attention of your GP to this article if you suffer from a CID, but take his/ her advice about vaccination. This article is about possible reduction in 'cover' from Covid-19 infection or severity, and not about any side effects of taking a mRNA vaccine.

[AylwardS]

Good to be aware of to help with a choice on benefits versus risks.

No medicine, and the vaccine is no different, gives 100% cover to everyone. The advice is to continue to socially distance and other methods of reducing transmission even after getting vaccinated.

Things we wouldn?t normally hear about are out there in relation to the Covid vaccine but at the end of the day you need to weigh up the risks for you. If you have medical conditions and are concerned then ask a doctor about your specific circumstances. If the guidance changes there is nothing to stop you carrying on with extra precautions.

I?ve seen something that the risk of bloodclots is the same as a long haul flight. Another risk related to one vaccine is the same as taking a car journey. How many of us would question doing either of those? The risks of catching Covid, getting severely ill or long Covid and other problems that are coming to light are higher.

Re the piece posted as the OP said ?(I stress preliminary)?, it has not been peer reviewed and it was done in America where medical standards are different to the UK. Even if it was a peer reviewed document it would be too technical for me.

[Sue]

Penguin68 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> suggests that even very low doses of a steroid

> such as Prednisolone can reduce the effectiveness

> of the vaccine.

>

> I cannot see any statement as to dosage levels in

> the linked abstract, nor to the severity of the

> Chronic Inflammatory Disease (CID) in the 135

> patients studied. Nor any listing of proprietary

> drugs (but of core ingredients of these drugs).

> The precautionary statement "This article is a

> preprint and has not been certified by peer

> review. It reports new medical research that has

> yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to

> guide clinical practice." should be noted.

>

> By all means draw the attention of your GP to this

> article if you suffer from a CID, but take his/

> her advice about vaccination. This article is

> about possible reduction in 'cover' from Covid-19

> infection or severity, and not about any side

> effects of taking a mRNA vaccine.

Yes, that's just the abstract.

The comment about the low dosage may or may not be correct but it was based on what somebody had written who had read the whole paper, as was the comment about Prednisolone.

No it wasn't research about side effects. However given that (I believe) side effects relate to one's immune system reacting to the vaccine, lack of side effects could imply that it didn't, which would make sense if you have a compromised immune system due to taking steroids.

I don't think it is the severity of the CID which is important - it is the dosage of steroids.

But, as I said, preliminary research.

[first mate]

On the other hand, prednisolone, dexamethasone or similar may reduce the severity of symptoms, if you are unlucky enough to contract Covid. If true, that is only of limited comfort I know.

[Sue]

This is more encouraging news (though again, the research hasn't yet been peer reviewed:)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/18/96-of-britons-develop-antibodies-after-one-covid-jab-study-finds?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

After two jabs, people on immune suppressing medication seem to be as well protected as others.