COVID-19 Vaccine Induced Bullous Pemphigoid: Case Report and Review of the Literature


Üstün P., Satılmış Kaya A., Kılıç İ., Adışen E.

Journal of the Turkish Academy of Dermatology, vol.17, no.1, pp.27-30, 2023 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

Abstract

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a subepidermal blistering disease most commonly observed in older patients. There are some trigger factors identified such as infections, drug intake, and physical agents. The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are a new suspected factor that may induce BP. Recently few cases of new-onset BP after vaccines were reported. We describe a 41-year-old patient who presented with bullous lesions gradually spreading to the whole body after the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. To identify all new-onset cases of BP after vaccination, we review the relevant literature and we found 14 previous cases reported. There are similarities between clinical and immunopathological findings in cases. After conducting a literature review, we suggest that vaccine-induced BP have a more refractory course as compared with the spontaneous occurring BP. The results of our study also support that BP may be observed more often after the mRNA syndromecoronavirus-2 vaccine rather than the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine due to the induction of greater immune response. Keywords: Bullous, Pemphigoid, COVID-19, Vaccine, New, Onset