94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1568801
Outcomes and risk factors of COVID-19 in patients with bullous pemphigoid: A cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted- 1Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 2Institute of Psoriasis, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: The outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP) remain insufficiently understood. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on BP patients and identify factors influencing the risk and severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in BP patients. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among BP patients in the Department of Dermatology at Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital from December 1, 2022, to March 1, 2023. Participants completed a comprehensive questionnaire addressing demographics, medical conditions, clinical symptoms, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors influencing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its severity were evaluated by logistic regression.Results: A total of 96 BP patients were analyzed. Demographic and clinical profiles, COVID-19-related characteristics, and the pandemic's impact on healthcare-seeking behaviors were described. Our findings showed that vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection (odds ratio [OR]: 0.157, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.045–0.552, p=0.002) and infection severity (OR: 0.044, 95% CI: 0.004–0.544, p=0.015). Furthermore, the use of prednisone at a dose >10 mg/day in the last 3 months was associated with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR: 7.911, 95% CI: 1.379–45.393, p=0.012) but did not appear to influence infection severity. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges for BP patients. Our study found that the use of prednisone at a dose >10 mg/day in the last three months was associated with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vaccination provided protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in BP patients.
Keywords: Bullous pemphigoid, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Glucocorticoids, Vaccination
Received: 30 Jan 2025; Accepted: 07 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Huang, Shi, Ding and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yunlu Gao, Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Shanghai, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.