Clinical and Molecular Characterization of a Rare Case of BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine-Associated Myositis

Eli Magen*, Sumit Mukherjee, Mahua Bhattacharya, Rajesh Detroja, Eugene Merzon, Idan Blum, Alejandro Livoff, Mark Shlapobersky, Gideon Baum, Ran Talisman, Evgenia Cherniavsky, Amir Dori, Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Initial clinical trials and surveillance data have shown that the most commonly administered BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is effective and safe. However, several cases of mRNA vaccine-induced mild to moderate adverse events were recently reported. Here, we report a rare case of myositis after injection of the first dose of BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine into the left deltoid muscle of a 34-year-old, previously healthy woman who presented progressive proximal muscle weakness, progressive dysphagia, and dyspnea with respiratory failure. One month after vaccination, BNT162b2 vaccine mRNA expression was detected in a tissue biopsy of the right deltoid and quadriceps muscles. We propose this case as a rare example of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced myositis. This study comprehensively characterizes the clinical and molecular features of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine-associated myositis in which the patient was severely affected.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1135
JournalVaccines
Volume10
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2022

Funding

FundersFunder number
COVID-19 Data Science Institute
Israeli Council of Higher Education and Research
Bar-Ilan University247017
Defence Science Institute

    Keywords

    • BNT162b2
    • COVID-19
    • mRNA vaccine
    • myositis

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