Impact of COVID-19 Vaccines on Cirrhotic Egyptian Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study

All SARS-CoV strains have the capacity to lead to life-threatening pneumonia. Patients with chronic liver illness are more prone than the general population to experience deleterious effects from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Acute liver failure occurs more commonly in patients with SARS-CoV-2. Aim of the work: to evaluate impact of COVID-19 vaccines on cirrhotic Egyptian patients. Patients and Methods: This is prospective study, was carried out on 250 patients over 6 months duration. Patients were selected from those visiting the hepato-gastroenterology and infectious diseases outpatient clinics at El-Hussein and Bab-Elshaaria University hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University. Five equal groups of patients were formed: Group (1): 50 patients cirrhotic liver Child-Pugh score A, Group (2): 50 patients cirrhotic liver Child-Pugh score B, Group (3): 50 patients cirrhotic liver Child-Pugh score C, Group (4): 50 patients chronic liver disease without liver cirrhosis, Group (5): 50 healthy persons without chronic liver disease. All studied patients subjected to the followings: Full medical history, Clinical examination, Laboratory investigations (CBC, liver and kidney functions, fasting and postprandial blood glucose) and Pelviabdominal ultrasound. These procedures were done three times: One week before receiving vaccine, one to two weeks after receiving first dose of vaccine and one to two weeks after receiving second dose of vaccine (vaccines were administrated: Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson). Results: There were no significant changes as regard clinical, laboratory and imaging before, after the first dose, and after the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccines in the five groups. Conclusion: In conclusion, it was discovered that COVID-19 vaccination safe for persons with cirrhosis or without cirrhosis who have chronic liver disease. To identify risk factors of adverse events, additional comparison studies with bigger sample sizes and longer follow-up are required.