My daughter is diagnosed with Lupus. Or at least something Lupus “like”. She is often in pain or significantly sick so at the least there is something amiss with her body or immune system. She is 49 years old.
Should people with Lupus consider NOT get a Covid vacination? Are they at higher risk from complications? Any data either way? Is any particular vaccine showing better results against the new dominate Delta strain? I had the moderna vaccination without any complications. Perhaps she should get that as well?
She is also pretty thin without much of a health reserve so I am fearful that if she gets Covid things could easily take a turn for the worse. And given her age she is at that point where just being older increases the risk of a serious outcome.
She works in retail and while not a cashier is exposed to a fair number of customers who now apparently usually do not wear masks nor social distance. And only about half the people in the county are vaccinated. Here in Florida it appears to be doubling about every 2 weeks so it won’t be long till the delta variant is everywhere. And given the behavior of folks on all sides this round of covid may be worse than the first round. At least for her risk of exposure and infection.
There are really very few hard and fast medical contra-indications to getting vaccinated. Below are the current recommendations on those over age 12 who should NOT be vaccinated for COVID.
The only contraindications to COVID-19 vaccination are allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines or their components.
•Severe allergic reaction (eg, anaphylaxis) to a previous COVID-19 vaccine dose or to a component of the vaccine.
•Immediate allergic reaction of any severity (including hives) developing within four hours of a previous COVID-19 vaccine dose or known (diagnosed) allergy to a component of the vaccine. Isolated hives that develop more than four hours after vaccine receipt are unlikely to represent an allergic reaction to the vaccine.
Precautions – Precautions to vaccination also consist of allergic reactions. These precautions warrant longer post-vaccination monitoring than usual.
•Immediate allergic reaction to any other (non-COVID-19) vaccine or injectable therapy.
Allergy consultation can be helpful to evaluate suspected allergic reactions to a COVID-19 vaccine or its components and assess the risk of future COVID-19 vaccination.
I’ve encouraged ALL my lupus patients to get vaccinated. In fact I’ve not recommended skipping the vaccine to ANY of my patients (and I had over 800 patients test positive for covid so far).
PS: Yes, I am a physician, very active in caring for covid and post covid patients
I’m sorry about your daughter’s diagnosis. I, too, have lupus. Every lupus patient is different, though, and your daughter should definitely consult her rheumatologist/healthcare team and go by their recommendations. My rheumatologist strongly recommended I get the vaccine. She said the prospects for lupus patients who get COVID are “ugly.” And the Lupus Foundation of America recommends vaccination with, of course, the advice of our doctors.
Your daughter’s doctor should determine which vaccine is best for her. I happened to get Moderna. After my second dose, I was pretty miserable for 48 hours. I kept thinking, “If my reaction to the vaccine is this bad, COVID would surely kill me.” But I can’t say my reaction was because of the lupus. And vaccination didn’t trigger a flare.
I’m concerned about studies showing people with compromised immune systems may not have the same level of immunity post-vaxx as others. I’m going to ask my doc if I should get a third COVID shot.
Here is a page on COVID vaccines and lupus, on the website of the Lupus Foundation of America. I just skimmed it but see no reason why a person with lupus should avoid a COVID vaccine, but of course your daughter should talk to her doctor or other health care provider who is familiar with her history.
IANA Mod (or a lawyer or a doctor) but it’s always worth remembering that this is just an internet messageboard. Even with a real doctor commenting (and I have no reason to doubt Qadgop’s credentials or opinion), do not take actual medical advice from us. All comments are subjective and for informational/advisory purposes only, and should never supersede seeing a medical practitioner in person.
But if this fills in any gaps in your knowledge or helps you formulate the right questions to ask your daughter’s GP or specialist, we’re happy to help.
I came to this thread because I have a serious auto-immune disease (not lupus) and I am very interested in how these conditions interact with COVID and the vaccines.
I’d just like to echo Gyrate’s caution about potentially relying on internet information in lieu of info from a qualified professional. I’m being repetitive mostly because the OP is new to the SDMB (welcome!).
I think it can be valuable to get preliminary medical (or legal or other professions) info from the internet mostly because it’s so easy to do and can point folks in the right direction. But it needs to be followed-up with appropriate professional advice.
What was the earlier thread? I’ve been trying to find it without success. I was just wondering myself how many valid medical excuses there are.
My aunt has some bullshit thing about her alleged special gene that makes her vulnerable to all kinds of toxins, and therefore ineligible for the vaccine. Supposedly her Harvard-educated doctor told her this. If so, it would be the first time I can remember her listening to a doctor instead of doing her own “research” into what herbs to take. Sigh.
The drummer from the Offspring claims he can’t get it because he has Guilliane-Barre (sp?). I imagine that’s BS. Anyway, he has been kicked out of the band.
With few exceptions, the independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) general best practice guidelines for immunization do not include a history of GBS as a precaution to vaccination with other vaccines.
As someone who had a massive auto-immune reaction more than 20 years ago, I was advised by my neurologist at the time (an MS specialist) to avoid vaccinations.
Over the years and in consultation with my GP I restarted flu vaccines. When Covid vaccines became available, I called him to discuss if and which vaccine was right for me as the Astra was available for me before the mRNA vaccines. His advise was to get the first vaccine I could as soon as possible.
I have discussed vaccination for COVID-19 with my 75-year-old mother several times. (I was vaccinated in February, while she continues to make excuses for not doing it.) She currently claims her doctor says she should not get the vaccine because she could have a reaction to it. I reminded her that she gets flu shots and other vaccinations, and never has any problems with those, and asked why her doctor thinks this vaccination would be any different. Her response was quite vague.
I have an acquaintance who also claims her doctor advised against vaccination, and furthermore advised her to not wear masks. She won’t give an explanation what alleged medical issue justifies this. After being confronted about it by people, she started bringing a “service dog” with her, which seems to provide her no services (other than the service of helping her refuse mask mandates while they were in effect.) She never used it before, and constantly asks other people to watch the dog while she runs errands without it. The dog mostly seems to be a prop for her claims of a “condition”.
I haven’t met anyone yet who had a plausible-sounding reason to refuse vaccination. I assume there actually are conditions that preclude vaccination, but it seems to me that many people are just using this as an excuse.
A friend of a friend had a serious enough allergic reaction to the first shot that her doctor told her to skip the second. That was when j&j was “paused”, i don’t know if she’s since followed up with that.
Another friend was being treated for an ectopic pregnancy with methotrexate and was told not to get vaccinated until she was off the methotrexate. She didn’t ask the doctor why, but my guess is that they were afraid it would blunt her immune response. And that was when vaccines were still in short supply in the US and precious. She’s since been vaccinated.