Examining the Immunological Effects of COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients with Conditions Potentially Leading to Diminished Immune Response Capacity – The OCTAVE Trial
Pre-print of OCTAVE study interim results (n=600, not yet peer reviewed) show 40% of immune vulnerable patients, including those with inflammatory diseases and those who are immunosuppressed, generated lower levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies vs healthy subjects after 2 vaccines
Source:
Preprints with The Lancet
SPS commentary:
A commentary discusses these results noting failure to seroconvert was particularly high in certain groups: 72.4% of patients with ANCA associated vasculitis and 98% of patients with inflammatory arthritis were in this category. Notably, all of the patients with ANCA associated vasculitis had received rituximab, a targeted B cell depletion therapy, and the researchers suspect a possible link between low seroconversion and rituximab because of the importance of B cells in the immune response to covid-19.