From the Research
COVID-19 and MS Onset
- There is evidence to suggest that COVID-19 infection may trigger the onset of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in susceptible individuals 1, 2.
- A case series study found that 10 patients developed initial MS symptoms after COVID-19 infection, with a mean age of 28 years and an average time to neurological presentation of 2-6 weeks following acute COVID-19 infection 1.
- Another study reviewed the relationship between Coronaviruses and MS, suggesting that COVID-19 may act as a trigger for developing MS in susceptible individuals 2.
Demographics and MS Onset
- The study by 1 found that the gender distribution of MS patients who developed symptoms after COVID-19 infection was equal (50% male), but it did not specifically address the demographics of a 24-year-old white transgender man.
- There is limited information available on the specific demographics of MS onset in transgender individuals, and more research is needed to understand this relationship.
COVID-19 Vaccination and MS Onset
- A study found that 14 patients (11.4%) who received a new diagnosis of MS had a history of COVID-19 vaccination within one month before symptoms onset, but the characteristics and radiological patterns of these patients did not differ from those with non-vaccine-related MS onset 3.
- The same study found that the allele frequencies of HLA-DRB115 were different in patients with non-vaccine-related disease onset before and during the COVID-19 era, and that HLA-DRB108+ or HLA-DRB1*10+ MS patients were only present in the subgroup with vaccine-related MS onset 3.
MS Exacerbation and COVID-19
- A case report described a 45-year-old patient with relapsing-remitting MS whose neurological symptoms worsened sharply in the weeks following an inpatient admission for COVID-19 pneumonia 4.
- Another study reviewed the COVID-19 risk in MS patients and found that MS and most disease-modifying therapies do not appear to be risk factors for severe COVID-19 5.