Breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 Similar for Chronic Liver Disease With, Without Cirrhosis

TUESDAY, March 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Full vaccination cuts the risk for all-cause mortality for breakthrough severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among chronic liver disease (CLD) patients with cirrhosis by two-thirds, according to a study published in the March issue of Hepatology.

Jin Ge, M.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues used data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative to identify 278,457 CLD patients with or without cirrhosis who had SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Fifteen percent of CLD patients were vaccinated as of Jan. 15, 2022. The researchers found that for CLD patients without cirrhosis and with cirrhosis, breakthrough infection incidences were 5.4 and 4.9 per 1,000 person-months, respectively, for fully vaccinated individuals. Among CLD patients with cirrhosis, including 68,048 unvaccinated and 10,441 vaccinated, 15 and 3.7 percent, respectively, developed SARS-CoV-2 infection. For unvaccinated and vaccinated CLD patients with cirrhosis, the 30-day outcome of mechanical ventilation or death after SARS-CoV-2 infection was 15.2 and 7.7 percent, respectively. Full vaccination was associated with a lower risk for death (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.34) at 30 days versus unvaccinated patients with cirrhosis.

"As the COVID‐19 pandemic continues to evolve with the emergence of new variants, vaccination (with potential variant‐specific boosters) will remain a cornerstone strategy to continue protecting patients with liver diseases," the authors write.

One author disclosed receiving grants from Merck.

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