Occurrence, Management of Alopecia Areata After COVID-19 Vaccination

Findings showed an occurrence of alopecia areata in patients after COVID-19 vaccination, which can be managed by use of both topical and systemic therapies.

With limited data currently available on the development of autoimmune skin diseases after COVID-19 vaccination, researchers assessed the development, worsening or recurrence of alopecia areata post vaccine.

Clinical and trichoscopic findings as well as the exclusion of common differential diagnoses were utilized to diagnose alopecia areata.

Of 24 patients included in the study, 20 (83.3%) were female, 4 (16.7%) were male, with a mean age of 39.1 years (range of 14-66 years). All patients were examined for the occurrence of alopecia areata within 16 weeks after COVID-19 vaccination.

Per results of the study, 14 (58.3%) patients experienced a patchy alopecia areata, 10 patients (41.7%) experience the occurrence of an extensive disease, 6 patients had whole scalp involvement (alopecia areata totalis), and 4 patients had their whole body affected (alopecia areata universalis).

A history of autoimmune disease was reported in 12 (50%) patients.

“Treatment with topical corticosteroid was performed in almost all patients with patchy alopecia areata, whilst it was associated with systemic drugs (corticosteroids, minoxidil, cyclosporin) in the case of generalized alopecia areata and alopecia areata universalis,” wrote researchers.

After 12 weeks of treatment, mean baseline values of Severity of Alopecia Tool score decreased from 43.4 to 36.6 and evidence of hair regrowth was reported in 16 of 21 patients.

“Physicians should be aware about the eventual occurrence of clinical manifestations of alopecia areata in the first 16 weeks after vaccine exposure, especially in patients with a personal history of autoimmune disorders,” concluded study authors.

Reference:
Tassone F, Cappilli S, Antonelli F, Zingarelli R, Chiricozzi A, Peris K. Alopecia areata occuring after COVID-19 vaccination: a single-center, cross-sectional study. Vaccines (Basel). 2022;10(9):1467. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10091467.