Urticaria exacerbations and adverse reactions in patients with chronic urticaria receiving COVID-19 vaccination: Results of the UCARE COVAC-CU study.

BACKGROUND: Concern about disease exacerbations and fear of reactions after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations are common in chronic urticaria (CU) patients and may lead to vaccine hesitancy. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the frequency and risk factors of CU exacerbation and adverse reactions in CU patients after COVID-19 vaccination. METHODS: COVAC-CU is an international multicenter study of Urticaria Centers of Reference and Excellence (UCAREs) that retrospectively evaluated the effects of COVID-19 vaccination in CU patients aged ≥18 years and vaccinated with ≥1 dose of any COVID-19 vaccine. We evaluated CU exacerbations and severe allergic reactions as well as other adverse events associated with COVID-19 vaccinations and their association with various CU parameters. RESULTS: Across 2769 COVID-19-vaccinated CU patients, most (90%) received at least 2 COVID-19 vaccine doses, and most patients received CU treatment and had well-controlled disease. The rate of COVID-19 vaccination-induced CU exacerbation was 9%. Of 223 patients with CU exacerbation after the first dose, 53.4% experienced recurrence of CU exacerbation after the second dose. CU exacerbation most often started <48 hours after vaccination (59.2%), lasted for a few weeks or less (70%), and was treated mainly with antihistamines (70.3%). Factors that increased the risk for COVID-19 vaccination-induced CU exacerbation included female sex, disease duration shorter than 24 months, having chronic spontaneous versus inducible urticaria, receipt of adenovirus viral vector vaccine, having nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug/aspirin intolerance, and having concerns about getting vaccinated; receiving omalizumab treatment and Latino/Hispanic ethnicity lowered the risk. First-dose vaccine-related adverse effects, most commonly local reactions, fever, fatigue, and muscle pain, were reported by 43.5% of CU patients. Seven patients reported severe allergic reactions. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 vaccination leads to disease exacerbation in only a small number of CU patients and is generally well tolerated.

The utility of a shortened palliative care screening tool to predict death within 12 months - a prospective observational study in two south African hospitals with a high HIV burden.

BACKGROUND: Timely identification of people who are at risk of dying is an important first component of end-of-life care. Clinicians often fail to identify such patients, thus trigger tools have been developed to assist in this process. We aimed to evaluate the performance of a identification tool (based on the Gold Standards Framework Prognostic Indicator Guidance) to predict death at 12 months in a population of hospitalised patients in South Africa. METHODS: Patients admitted to the acute medical services in two public hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa were enrolled in a prospective observational study. Demographic data were collected from patients and patient notes. Patients were assessed within two days of admission by two trained clinicians who were not the primary care givers, using the identification tool. Outcome mortality data were obtained from patient folders, the hospital electronic patient management system and the Western Cape Provincial death registry which links a unique patient identification number with national death certificate records and system wide electronic records. RESULTS: 822 patients (median age of 52 years), admitted with a variety of medical conditions were assessed during their admission. 22% of the cohort were HIV-infected. 218 patients were identified using the screening tool as being in the last year of their lives. Mortality in this group was 56% at 12 months, compared with 7% for those not meeting any criteria. The specific indicator component of the tool performed best in predicting death in both HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients, with a sensitivity of 74% (68-81%), specificity of 85% (83-88%), a positive predictive value of 56% (49-63%) and a negative predictive value of 93% (91-95%). The hazard ratio of 12-month mortality for those identified vs not was 11.52 (7.87-16.9, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The identification tool is suitable for use in hospitals in low-middle income country setting that have both a high communicable and non-communicable disease burden amongst young patients, the majority under age 60.

Non-Skin Related Symptoms Are Common in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria and Linked to Active and Uncontrolled Disease: Results From the Chronic Urticaria Registry.

BACKGROUND: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) can present with non-skin related symptoms (NSRS), including recurrent unexplained fever, joint, bone, or muscle pain (JBMP), and malaise, which also occur in other conditions that manifest with wheals (eg, urticarial vasculitis or autoinflammatory disorders) or without wheals (eg, infection). OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the rate of patients with CSU affected by fever, JBMP, and malaise, their trigger factors, links with clinical and laboratory characteristics, and their impact on everyday life and treatment responses. METHODS: We analyzed baseline data from the Chronic Urticaria Registry of 2,521 patients with CSU who were aged 16 years or older. RESULTS: One third of CSU patients (31.2%; 786 of 2,521) had one or more NSRS, including recurrent fever (5.3%), JBMP (19.1%), and/or malaise (18.6%). In a multivariable analysis, having one or more of these NSRS correlated with food and infection as trigger factors of urticaria (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.7 and 1.5), wheals of 24 hours or greater duration (aOR = 2.5), sleep disturbance (aOR = 2.4), anxiety (aOR = 2.8), comorbid atopic dermatitis (aOR = 2.1), gastrointestinal disease (aOR = 1.8), elevated leukocytes (aOR = 1.7) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (aOR = 1.5). In a bivariate analysis, these NSRS were additionally associated with higher disease activity (weekly Urticaria Activity Score, median: 21 vs 14; P = .009), longer disease duration (years, median: 2 vs 1; P = .001), the presence of angioedema (74.6% vs 58.7%; P < .001), worse quality of life (Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire, median: 42 vs 29; P < .001) and more frequent poor control of CSU (78% vs 69%; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of NSRS in a subpopulation of patients with CSU points to the need for better control of the disease, exclusion of comorbid conditions, and/or exclusion of urticarial vasculitis and urticarial autoinflammatory diseases.

Low self-reported penicillin allergy in South Africa-implications for global public health response.

Objectives: In high-income countries, up to 25% of inpatients have a self-reported penicillin allergy (PA). After testing, 95% of these self-reported PAs are incorrect. These incorrectly labelled PAs increase the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and drive bacterial resistance. The epidemiology of PA in low- and middle-income countries is unknown. We aimed to describe the epidemiology and delabelling outcomes of self-reported PA in South African (SA) inpatients. Methods: We conducted point prevalence surveys between April 2019 and June 2021 at seven hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa. A team trained in the PEN-FAST allergy decision tool conducted in-person interviews, and reviewed patient notes to identify and risk stratify inpatients with a self-reported PA. These patients were referred to the Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) allergy clinic for delabelling. Results: A total of 1486 hospital inpatients were surveyed and 3.2% (n = 48) carried a PA label. Importantly, 64.6% (n = 31) were classified by PEN-FAST as low risk for true penicillin hypersensitivity. Overall, 25% of the self-reported PAs received a ß-lactam antibiotic in hospital and were directly delabelled. Delabelling attrition was very high, with 6.3% (3/48) of the self-reported PAs attending the GSH allergy clinic, and only one patient proceeding to a negative oral penicillin challenge. Conclusions: Inpatient self-reported PA was lower in South Africa hospitals compared with other upper-middle-income countries, and the majority of patients carried a low-risk PA label. Linkage for delabelling with the allergy clinic was very poor, and thus strategies to improve access and delivery of delabelling remains an urgent public health issue.

New-onset chronic spontaneous urticaria post-COVID-19 vaccination-South African case series.

Background: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is defined as the spontaneous occurrence of hives, angioedema, or both for more than 6 weeks; several inciting triggers including vaccines have been implicated. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations have been well tolerated by patients with CSU. However, reports have emerged of CSU triggered by COVID-19 vaccination and this study describes a South African case series. Objective: To provide details of the first case series of new-onset CSU post-COVID-19 vaccination in Africa and summarize the global literature of reported cases to date. Methods: All patients referred to our Urticaria Center of Excellence in Cape Town from the initiation of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in South Africa (from February 2021 to August 2022) were reviewed to identify patients who developed new-onset CSU within 12 weeks of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Medical history, physical examinations, and laboratory investigations were reviewed. Results: More than 20 million adults received COVID-19 vaccinations in South Africa during the study period. Eight patients had new-onset chronic urticaria post-COVID-19 vaccination; 6 of the 8 patients were female, the median age was 41 years (interquartile range [IQR], 38-44), and all had a history of atopy. Only 1 reported COVID-19 infection post vaccination. Chronic urticaria occurred following Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Janssen Ad26.COV2.S vaccination in 6, 1, and 1 patient, respectively, with a median of 12 days (IQR, 3-38) from vaccination to symptoms onset. The baseline median score for Urticarial Activity Score 7 was 34 (IQR, 29-40), and 5 of the 8 patients (63%) had a total IgE level of more than 43 IU/L. All patients received high-dose antihistamines, with only 3 patients controlled. Conclusions: New-onset CSU can rarely be triggered by COVID-19 vaccinations, most commonly mRNA vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine-triggered CSU appears to have a phenotype similar to that triggered by other inciting agents and across populations.

Allergic reactions to the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine in South Africa.

Background: The Janssen-Ad26.COV2.S vaccine is authorized for use in several countries, with more than 30 million doses administered. Mild and severe allergic adverse events following immunization (AEFI) have been reported. Objective: We sought to detail allergic reactions reported during the Sisonke phase 3B study in South Africa. Methods: A single dose of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine was administered to 4,77,234 South African health care workers between February 17 and May 17, 2021. Monitoring of adverse events used a combination of passive reporting and active case finding. Telephonic contact was attempted for all adverse events reported as "allergy." Anaphylaxis adjudication was performed using the Brighton Collaboration and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease case definitions. Results: Only 251 (0.052%) patients reported any allergic-type reaction (<1 in 2000), with 4 cases of adjudicated anaphylaxis (Brighton Collaboration level 1, n = 3) (prevalence of 8.4 per million doses). All anaphylaxis cases had a previous history of drug or vaccine-associated anaphylaxis. Cutaneous allergic reactions were the commonest nonanaphylatic reactions and included self-limiting, transient/localized rashes requiring no health care contact (n = 92) or isolated urticaria and/or angioedema (n = 70; median onset, 48 [interquartile range, 11.5-120] hours postvaccination) that necessitated health care contact (81%), antihistamine (63%), and/or systemic/topical corticosteroid (16%). All immediate (including adjudicated anaphylaxis) and most delayed AEFI (65 of 69) cases resolved completely. Conclusions: Allergic AEFI are rare following a single dose of Ad26.COV, with complete resolution in all cases of anaphylaxis. Although rare, isolated, delayed-onset urticaria and/or angioedema was the commonest allergic AEFI requiring treatment, with nearly half occurring in participants without known atopic disease.