INFANTILE BULLOUS PEMPHIGOID FOLLOWING HBV VACCINE: FROM CASE REPORTS TO MOLECULAR EVIDENCE.
- Vânia Borba, Portugal
Abstract
Background and Aims
Bullous pemphigoid (BP), represents the most common autoimmune bullous disease and mostly affects the elderly, being rare among pediatric population. Although a clear trigger is not well established, it has been recognized that a combination of genetic predisposing factors, as class II HLA (e.g., HLA-DQβ1 * 0301), and environmental influences, such as vaccines, viral infections, diet, neoplasms, and drugs, may contribute to the loss of immune tolerance. Along the years, growing incidence of autoimmune diseases after vaccination have been reported specially, among children.
Methods
Case report and literature review.
Results
Postvaccination BP is an idiopathic disorder that has been predominantly associated with tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis, influenza and polio vaccine alone or in combination with other vaccines.
Conclusions
In this structured review, we describe a case report of a four-month old female patient who presented with a new onset of BP following the second inoculation with HBV HBsAg vaccine, and summarize the current evidence on the association between BP and HBV vaccine, focusing on molecular mimicry as the underlying tie which link the virus, the vaccine and the disease.