Sarcoidosis following Covid19 vaccines

A statistical rise in cases 2021-2022 supports published case reports

Hebrew version גירסה בעברית

Sarcoidosis (also known as Besnier–Boeck–Schaumann disease) is a rare disease involving abnormal collections of inflammatory cells that form lumps known as granulomata. It can appear in different organs, most commonly the lungs, skin, and the lymph nodes. The exact cause of sarcoidosis is unknown.

Following a complaint from a patient from New Zealand who was diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis following two doses of Pfizer vaccine, a FOIA request was sent to Maccabi Health Fund in Israel (N = 2.5 million members) to explore if a safety signal existed. Data of sarcoidosis in specific organs in the body was not available. The raw data is included later under Reference.

Baseline was calculated according to 2016-2020 average rate for each gender: Female rates (Red) exhibited a very steady rate which confirmed the choice of baseline; Male rates (Blue) were not as steady.

In 2021 the rates of both genders were above average (compared to 2016-2020 baseline) : Males presented an 11% rise (0.8σ), Females 10% (5.2σ).

2022 presented an even stronger rise above average, higher than any other year, for both genders: Males 35% rise (2.6σ), Females 16% (8.2σ).

Conclusion

Several case reports were published on sarcoidosis following mRNA vaccines (1) (2) (3) (4) (5). There was also one case reported to the Israeli Ministry Of Health as a possible adverse event of the Pfizer vaccine (female, age 60 and above).

A correlation between sarcoidosis and Covid19 was not found, based on 2020 data for both genders - in 2020 there were 425,000 confirmed cases of Covid19 in Israel, and presumably several times more undetected cases, yet sarcoidosis rates were average. Vaccine rollout in Israel began on Dec. 20, 2020 and lasted throughout 2021-2022, which presented a safety signal according to our data.

Since mRNA vaccines are more likely to provoke inflammatory and autoimmune responses compared to other vaccine types, the relation between sarcoidosis and mRNA vaccines should be further investigated using a dedicated, large population study.

A follow-up FOIA request was sent. We will update our readers once the data is received.

Reference

Raw data (population size was taken from the National Insurance Institute on July 1st of each year)

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