Student Research Committee, School of Medical Education and Learning Technologies, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Front Public Health. 2024 Mar 13;12:1348015. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1348015. eCollection 2024.
There are different types of COVID-19 vaccines approved worldwide. Since no national studies focus on vaccine-related adverse reactions and breakthrough cases, this study aimed to investigate the rate of adverse events and COVID-19 infection in medical students in Iran.
This retrospective cohort study included Iranian medical students who received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The medical team gathered the demographic characteristics, comorbidities, type of vaccine, adverse events following vaccination, and history of COVID-19 infection data through a phone interview. The frequency of adverse events and breakthrough infection was stratified by vaccine type (ChAdOx1-S, Gam-COVID-Vac, and BIBP-CorV).
A total of 3,591 medical students enrolled in this study, of which 57.02% were females, with a mean age of 23.31 + 4.87. A PCR-confirmed and suspicious-for-COVID-19 breakthrough infection rate of 4.51 and 7.02% was detected, respectively. There was no significant relation between breakthrough infection and gender, BMI, blood groups, and comorbidities. However, there was a significant difference in breakthrough infection rate among different types of vaccines ( = 0.001) and history of COVID-19 infection ( = 0.001). A total of 16 participants were hospitalized due to COVID-19 infection after vaccination for reasons such as dyspnea, abnormal imaging, or decreased oxygen saturation. No severe infection or death was observed in the studied population.
Vaccination prevented severe COVID-19 infection, although a high breakthrough infection rate was evident among Iranian medical students during the Delta variant's peak. Vaccine effectiveness may be fragile during emerging new variants and in high-exposure settings. Moreover, adverse events are rare, and the benefits of vaccination outweigh the side effects. However, many limitations challenged this study, and the results should be cautious.
全球已批准使用不同类型的 COVID-19 疫苗。由于尚无针对疫苗相关不良反应和突破性病例的全国性研究，本研究旨在调查伊朗医学生中的不良反应和 COVID-19 感染率。
这是一项回顾性队列研究，纳入了接种过两剂 COVID-19 疫苗的伊朗医学生。通过电话访谈，医疗团队收集了人口统计学特征、合并症、疫苗类型、接种后不良反应以及 COVID-19 感染史数据。根据疫苗类型（ChAdOx1-S、Gam-COVID-Vac 和 BIBP-CorV）对不良反应和突破性感染的频率进行分层。
共有 3591 名医学生参与了这项研究，其中 57.02%为女性，平均年龄为 23.31 + 4.87 岁。PCR 确诊和疑似 COVID-19 突破性感染率分别为 4.51%和 7.02%。突破性感染与性别、BMI、血型和合并症之间无显著关系。然而，不同类型的疫苗（ = 0.001）和 COVID-19 感染史（ = 0.001）之间的突破性感染率存在显著差异。共有 16 名接种疫苗后因呼吸困难、影像学异常或氧饱和度降低等原因因 COVID-19 感染住院。在研究人群中未观察到严重感染或死亡。
尽管在 Delta 变异株高峰期，伊朗医学生的突破性感染率较高，但接种疫苗可预防严重的 COVID-19 感染。在出现新的变异株和高暴露环境中，疫苗的有效性可能较为脆弱。此外，不良反应罕见，接种疫苗的益处大于副作用。然而，本研究存在许多局限性，结果应谨慎对待。
