SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID‒19 in Gaucher disease: indications for vaccination

Orv Hetil 2021 Jun 13;162(24):938-942. doi: 10.1556/650.2021.32272.

PMID: 34120104

László Maródi

Highlights: We review here the current concepts of Gaucher disease and SARS-CoV-2 infection, focusing particularly on general prevention and vaccination.

Abstract:

Background: The Gaucher disease community predicted that infection with this new viral pathogen would be linked with significant morbidity and death in patients with this chronic metabolic condition at the outset of the pandemic induced by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Preliminary research, however, suggests that Gaucher disease does not increase the likelihood of severe, life-threatening consequences from SARS-CoV-2 infection, and no severe cases have been recorded in large groups of patients from the United States, Europe, and Israel. The accumulation of glucocerebroside in Gaucher patients' cells is considered to enhance immunological tolerance rather than inflammation in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objective: The current ideas of Gaucher disease and SARS-CoV-2 infection are reviewed here, with an emphasis on general prevention and immunization. We also describe how patients with inborn defects of type 1 interferon (IFN and IFN) immunity are susceptible to COVID-19.

Keywords: Gaucher disease, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2