A new study has shown that COVID booster injections were highly successful in sparing patients with suppressed immune systems from hospital admission – including people with lymphoid blood cancers.
In spite of their weakened immune systems, 80% of blood cancer patients developed enough antibodies after booster vaccinations, which reduced their risk of illness and hospitalisation, British researchers reported in The Lancet.
The researchers say the findings suggest that it is feasible and worthwhile to monitor patients with immune suppression for their response to repeat vaccines.
Researchers at Imperial University, London, identified 21,000 immunocompromised patients and studied their antibody levels and their health records in the two years after the vaccine booster programme began in 2021. These patients included organ transplant recipients, as well as patients with rare autoimmune conditions or lymphoid malignancies.
Researchers found that overall, 82% of immunocompromised patients developed antibodies – and these were less likely than those without antibodies to have succumbed to the infection or needed hospital treatment.
Dr Richard Francis, deputy director of research at Blood Cancer UK, which helped fund the research, said: “These findings, alongside results from other studies, are very reassuring for many with blood cancer. They tell us that people with weakened immune systems generally respond well to repeat vaccines, and that they helped prevent hospitalisation.
“Looking to the future, the research also demonstrates that mass testing of immunocompromised individuals could be possible.
“Using home tests like this would give people a better idea of their individual risk and helps to personalise prevention strategies, whether this be through targeted repeat vaccinations, specific treatment or even management of household contacts.”
Dr Francis added: “During the pandemic, people with blood cancer who were immunocompromised often faced an uphill battle navigating bureaucracy to get access to repeat vaccines. It caused huge anxiety for this group of people, at a time when they also accounted for 1 in 20 of COVID-19 intensive care patients.”
Source:
Mumford L, Hogg R, Taylor A, Lanyon P, Bythell M, McPhail S, Chilcot J, Powter G, Cooke GS, Ward H, Thomas H, McAdoo SP, Lightstone L, Lim SH, Pettigrew GJ, Pearce FA, Willicombe M. (2025) “Impact of SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody positivity on infection and hospitalisation rates in immunosuppressed populations during the omicron period: the MELODY study.” Lancet, 25 January 2025, doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)02560-1.
Link: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02560-1/fulltext
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