Less lung COVID in people with a donated kidney after corona vaccination

People with a donated kidney have a higher risk of getting corona because, among other things, they use immunosuppressive drugs or have reduced kidney function. They also have fewer antibodies after coronavirus vaccination than the healthy population. Even after multiple vaccinations, people with a kidney donor may therefore not be sufficiently protected against the coronavirus and its long-term consequences.

Answer
The RECOVAC consortium is studying the effect of corona vaccination in patients with kidney disease. Part of the study is to investigate whether vaccination protects people with a donated kidney from long-term post-corona ailments, also known as post-COVID or long COVID. More than five thousand kidney disease patients filled out questionnaires at home and took finger-prick blood samples to measure antibodies after vaccination. Research has previously shown that a good response after vaccination can protect against severe illness from the coronavirus. It now appears that a good response after vaccination also protects against post-COVID in people with a donated kidney. Researchers have shown a strong link between antibodies post-vaccination and post-COVID. People with a donated kidney were 50% less likely to develop post-COVID if they had lots of antibodies compared to people with a donated kidney without antibodies. Repeated corona vaccination increased the number of antibodies against the virus. The researchers therefore expect that repeated vaccination will remain useful for people with a donated kidney.

Risk reduction
“These results underline the importance of repeat coronavirus vaccination in patients with a donated kidney,” says lead researcher Pim Bouwmans from UMC+ in Maastricht. “Because we see that having many antibodies carries a significantly lower risk of post-COVID, we advise people with a donated kidney to keep antibodies high by getting vaccinated against corona every year.” RECOVAC is currently studying how the effect of corona vaccination can be further improved in people with a donated kidney. “This research is needed to better protect people with a donated kidney against infectious diseases such as coronavirus,” says Pim Bouwmans. “Furthermore, our research also provides important information for other vulnerable patients whose immune systems are weakened.”

It the research was recently published in the journal International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

The RECOVAC consortium is a research collaboration between all university hospitals, many regional hospitals and other partners in the Netherlands. The team is studying the effects of COVID-19 and vaccination in kidney patients and people with a donated kidney who are at increased risk of serious, long-term health damage after suffering a corona infection.