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Inflammatory eye disease
Ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination: reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions to regulatory authorities in the UK
  1. Ilaria Testi1,2,
  2. Taha Soomro3,
  3. Carlos Pavesio4,
  4. Ameenat Lola Solebo5
  1. 1 Uveitis Department, Moorfields Eye Hospital, National Health Service Foundation Trus, London, UK
  2. 2 Rheumatology Department, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK
  3. 3 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  4. 4 Uveitis Department, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  5. 5 MRC Centre of Epidemiology of Child Health, Institute of Child Health University College London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ilaria Testi; ilaria.testi{at}nhs.net

Abstract

Background/aims The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published suspected adverse drug reactions to vaccines against COVID-19. Ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination have been reported worldwide.

Methods We analysed MHRA data on spontaneous reports of suspected ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination between January 2021 and September 2022.

Results The MHRA received 300 UK spontaneous suspected reports of ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination, with a calculated prevalence of 6.6 events per 1 000 000 vaccinated individuals. Anterior uveitis was the most common phenotype (58.3%), followed by optic neuritis in 39.3%. Median number of days between vaccination and onset was 8 days. Resolution of the event was seen in 52.3%.

Conclusion Ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination have a very rare prevalence in the UK. There is no increase in the reporting rate of uveitis, optic neuritis and scleritis following COVID-19 vaccination when compared with the range of incidence in the UK population. The Yellow Card System represents a vital instrument within the domain of pharmacovigilance, empowering patients and healthcare professionals to contribute to the ongoing monitoring of medication safety.

  • Covid-19

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo-2023-324503

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available upon reasonable request.

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    Footnotes

    • IT and TS are joint first authors.

    • Contributors TS: data analysis. IT: conceptualisation, writing—original draft. Guarantor. CP: review and editing. ALS: conceptualisation, data analysis, supervision, writing—review and editing.

    • Funding ALS is supported by an NIHR Clinician Scientist award CS-2018, 18-ST2-005. This work was undertaken at UCL Institute of Child Health/Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology/Moorfields Eye Hospital, which receive a proportion of funding from the Department of Health’s NIHR Biomedical Research Centers funding scheme.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.