"Abstract
Background: This study aims to investigate the incidence of AIDs [autoimmune diseases] in children before and during the pandemic and explores potential links to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination...
Patients and methods
This was a retrospective and population-based cohort study based on anonymized data from electronic medical records of the Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) centralized computerized database. MHS, Israel’s second-largest healthcare organization, serves approximately 2.6 million insured patients and offers access to electronic medical records across its extensive healthcare network, including diagnoses, medications, lab results, and hospitalization data. MHS has tracked COVID-19 results since February 23, 2020, when the first positive case in Israel was detected on February 27, 2020. MHS recorded data for all patients vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine as soon as the vaccine was available. In this study, we investigated a cohort of 493,705 insured patients. The research was initiated and data retrieved after obtaining Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval (0103-23-MHS).
Discussion
If COVID-19 infection did not increase the risk of autoimmune diseases, vaccinations did show a significantly heightened risk of developing autoimmune conditions by over 23%. Regarding the potential link with the COVID-19 vaccine, these results are in alignment with the current literature, which establishes a causal link between the vaccine and the development of long-term adverse effects, particularly autoimmune diseases. The primary mechanisms proposed for vaccine-induced autoimmunity following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination include molecular mimicry, generation of autoantibodies, and the role of vaccine adjuvants."
© The Author(s) 2025.
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