Status migrainosus: a potential adverse reaction to Comirnaty (BNT162b2, BioNtech/Pfizer) COVID-19 vaccine-a case report.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) due to acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is the largest emergency that humanity had to be dealing with in the last century. During the last months, different types of vaccines have been designed to contain the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with successful results in many countries. Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNtech) COVID-19 vaccine is a lipid nanoparticle-formulated, nucleoside mRNA vaccine encoding the prefusion spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. Although vaccines have an undeniable efficacy, they can also present several neurological side effects, including headache. According to ICHD-3 Classification, status migrainosus (SMg) is described as a debilitating migraine attack lasting for more than 72 h. Symptoms of SMg can be very severe, preventing the normal daily activities of the individual.

CASE PRESENTATION:

In the present report, we describe a case of SMg that lasted 11 days, time correlated with the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer/Comirnaty) in a 37-year-old woman with a history of migraine without aura.

CONCLUSIONS:

In patients with a history of migraine, COVID-19 vaccination could lead to a worsening of headache and, in rare cases, to the development of a SMg. This may be related to the inflammatory response that occurs after vaccination.

• Authors: Stefano Consoli, Fedele Dono, Giacomo Evangelista, Maria D'Apolito, Daniela Travaglini, Marco Onofrj, Laura Bonanni
• Journal: Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology (Neurol Sci) Vol. 43 Issue 2 Pg. 767-770 (Feb 2022) ISSN: 1590-3478 [Electronic] Italy
• PMID: 34807361 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2021. Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia.

Chemical References

• COVID-19 Vaccines
• Lipid Nanoparticles
• Liposomes
• Vaccines, Synthetic
• mRNA Vaccines
• BNT162 Vaccine

Topics

• Adult
• BNT162 Vaccine
• COVID-19
• COVID-19 Vaccines
• Female
• Humans
• Liposomes
• Migraine Disorders
• Nanoparticles
• SARS-CoV-2
• Vaccines, Synthetic
• mRNA Vaccines