Research conducted at the Department of Hematology, Blood Cancer and Bone Marrow Transplantation of the University Teaching Hospital in Wrocław has provided evidence of the effectiveness of vaccination in a group of patients at particular risk of severe COVID-19. They are patients after bone marrow transplants for the treatment of leukemia.
Vaccines protect 90% of transplant patients.
Published Jan. 19, 2022 12:12
fot. Tomasz Walow/UMW
- During the first wave of the pandemic, we observed high mortality in transplant patients who contracted COVID-19, says the head of the clinic, Prof. Tomasz Wróbel. - It was even 50 percent, but then there was no vaccine. The situation changed dramatically when we started vaccinating these patients. Infections still happen, but infections are no longer as severe and as deadly as they were at that time.
Patients of the clinic after bone marrow transplantation after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine were also carefully monitored for adverse reactions and the obtained immune response. Nearly one hundred patients were included in the study. The results are very promising:
- The percentage of adverse reactions in this group of patients is similar to the general population - says prof. Anna Czyż from the Department of Hematology, Blood Cancer and Bone Marrow Transplantation of the USK. - Adverse reactions have occurred, but were mild to moderate and transient in nature. At the same time, it turned out that the effectiveness of vaccination in terms of the immune response is also similar to that noted in the entire population. It amounts to about 90%, even in patients after allogeneic transplant (not from their own cells) taking immunosuppressive drugs.
Prof. Tomasz Wróbel also appealed to the families of hematologically ill people to get vaccinated, thus creating a protection zone for their relatives in their environment.
- It is an expression of responsibility for others - emphasized prof. The sparrow.
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