Researchers at the Center hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM) research center believe that a 3rd dose of COVID-19 vaccine may be required for some people living with HIV.
In the United States, authorities are encouraging the injection of a third dose of messenger RNA vaccine against COVID-19 in immunosuppressed people, but according to Dr. Cécile Tremblay, “if several studies have evaluated the vaccine response in patients transplanted, on dialysis or with an autoimmune disease or cancer, few studies have measured the response of people living with HIV. ”
This is what motivated the team of themicrobiologist-infectiologist and researcher at the CRCHUM to recruit a hundred people living with HIV to measure their immunogenicity after receiving the Moderna vaccine.
“We measured the antibodies initially, before receiving the first dose of vaccine, and then we measured the antibodies four weeks after receiving the first dose, and we continue to monitor them long term,” said Dr. Tremblay. .
The results were compared with a control group made up of healthcare workers.
Preliminary data indicate that the response to the vaccine of people living with HIV compares to that of the general population, however, the researchers found “a much lower response in the group of individuals with low CD4 + counts.”
CD4 + lymphocytes are cells that have a major impact on the production of antibodies.
“If the trend continues after the second dose, these data would support the hypothesis that the immune response would increase with booster doses or another dosage,” said Andrés Finzi, researcher at the CRCHUM and professor at the University of Montreal.
It is therefore for people living with HIV who have low CD4 + counts that a 3rd dose of COVID-19 vaccine may be required.
The article by CRCHUM researchers was published on the bioRxiv pre-print server, pending acceptance by an editorial board of a scientific journal.