TY - JOUR
T1 - Diphtheria And Tetanus Vaccination History Is Associated With Lower Odds of COVID-19 Hospitalization
AU - Monereo-Sánchez, Jennifer
AU - Luykx, Jurjen J
AU - Pinzón-Espinosa, Justo
AU - Richard, Geneviève
AU - Motazedi, Ehsan
AU - Westlye, Lars T
AU - Andreassen, Ole A
AU - van der Meer, Dennis
N1 - Copyright © 2021 Monereo-Sánchez, Luykx, Pinzón-Espinosa, Richard, Motazedi, Westlye, Andreassen and van der Meer.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is characterized by strikingly large, mostly unexplained, interindividual variation in symptom severity: while some individuals remain nearly asymptomatic, others suffer from severe respiratory failure. Previous vaccinations for other pathogens, in particular tetanus, may partly explain this variation, possibly by readying the immune system.METHODS: We made use of data on COVID-19 testing from 103,049 participants of the UK Biobank (mean age 71.5 years, 54.2% female), coupled to immunization records of the last ten years. Using logistic regression, covarying for age, sex, respiratory disease diagnosis, and socioeconomic status, we tested whether individuals vaccinated for tetanus, diphtheria or pertussis, differed from individuals that had only received other vaccinations on 1) undergoing a COVID-19 test, 2) being diagnosed with COVID-19, and 3) whether they developed severe COVID-19 symptoms.RESULTS: We found that individuals with registered diphtheria or tetanus vaccinations are less likely to develop severe COVID-19 than people who had only received other vaccinations (diphtheria odds ratio (OR)=0.47, p-value=5.3*10-5; tetanus OR=0.52, p-value=1.2*10-4).DISCUSSION: These results indicate that a history of diphtheria or tetanus vaccinations is associated with less severe manifestations of COVID-19. These vaccinations may protect against severe COVID-19 symptoms by stimulating the immune system. We note the correlational nature of these results, yet the possibility that these vaccinations may influence the severity of COVID-19 warrants follow-up investigations.
AB - BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is characterized by strikingly large, mostly unexplained, interindividual variation in symptom severity: while some individuals remain nearly asymptomatic, others suffer from severe respiratory failure. Previous vaccinations for other pathogens, in particular tetanus, may partly explain this variation, possibly by readying the immune system.METHODS: We made use of data on COVID-19 testing from 103,049 participants of the UK Biobank (mean age 71.5 years, 54.2% female), coupled to immunization records of the last ten years. Using logistic regression, covarying for age, sex, respiratory disease diagnosis, and socioeconomic status, we tested whether individuals vaccinated for tetanus, diphtheria or pertussis, differed from individuals that had only received other vaccinations on 1) undergoing a COVID-19 test, 2) being diagnosed with COVID-19, and 3) whether they developed severe COVID-19 symptoms.RESULTS: We found that individuals with registered diphtheria or tetanus vaccinations are less likely to develop severe COVID-19 than people who had only received other vaccinations (diphtheria odds ratio (OR)=0.47, p-value=5.3*10-5; tetanus OR=0.52, p-value=1.2*10-4).DISCUSSION: These results indicate that a history of diphtheria or tetanus vaccinations is associated with less severe manifestations of COVID-19. These vaccinations may protect against severe COVID-19 symptoms by stimulating the immune system. We note the correlational nature of these results, yet the possibility that these vaccinations may influence the severity of COVID-19 warrants follow-up investigations.
KW - Aged
KW - COVID-19/immunology
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Pertussis Vaccine/immunology
KW - SARS-CoV-2/immunology
KW - Severity of Illness Index
KW - Tetanus Toxoid/immunology
KW - Vaccination
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.749264
DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.749264
M3 - Article
C2 - 34691063
SN - 1664-3224
VL - 12
SP - 749264
JO - Frontiers in immunology
JF - Frontiers in immunology
ER -