COVID-19 Vaccination Protects Against New-Onset, Post-Infection Fibromyalgia

New research has found that COVID-19 vaccination may play a protective role in reducing the risk of new-onset fibromyalgia (FM) among COVID-19 survivors.1

“COVID-19 vaccines help to limit inflammatory responses and immune reactions, which are closely correlated with a lower severity of COVID- 19 symptoms. However, no studies have assessed the impact of COVID- 19 vaccination on the incidence of subsequent FM in infected individuals,” lead investigator Aihui Liu, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Rheumatology and Immunology Research Institute, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Cultivation for Arthritis Diagnosis and Treatment, and colleagues wrote.1

Liu and colleagues utilized data from the TriNetX platform, comparing 90,508 COVID-19 survivors who received the COVID-19 vaccine against 90,508 unvaccinated survivors with Cox proportional hazards regression models and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, and then conducted further subgroup and sensitivity analyses.

Kaplan–Meier curves revealed that COVID-19 survivors who received the COVID-19 vaccine had a significantly lower incidence of new-onset FM than those who did not (log-rank P = .049). Furthermore, the vaccine group had a lower risk of new-onset FM than those who did not (HR, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.71–0.99]).1

In subgroup analyses, investigators also found that COVID-19 vaccine had a protective effect against the development of new-onset FM in males (HR, 0.520 [95% CI, 0.342–0.792]), individuals with a body mass index (BMI) lower than 30 (HR, 0.564 [95% CI, 0.347–0.918]), and those with comorbid depression (HR, 0.552 [95% CI, 0.365–0.835]) and anxiety (HR, 0.598 [95% CI, 0.425–0.841]). Patients with severe COVID-19 were also less likely to develop new-onset FM when vaccinated (HR, 0.747 [95% CI, 0.332–1.682).1

“This cohort study suggests that the risk of new-onset FM may be lower in COVID- 19 survivors who are vaccinated, compared to those who are unvaccinated, particularly among males and individuals with anxiety or depression. These findings underscore the potential protective effect of COVID- 19 vaccination in reducing the risk of new-onset FM in COVID- 19 survivors. Future research should explore the mechanism of the effects of vaccination on new-onset FM following COVID- 19,” Liu and colleagues concluded.1

This research on effects of COVID-19 vaccination builds on previous research uncovering links between FM and COVID-19. One such study revealed a not insignificant prevalence of new-onset FM after COVID-19 infection.2

Investigators analyzed data from 18 patients with musculoskeletal (MSK) pain, including myalgia (n = 17; 94.4%) and generalized widespread pain (n = 14; 77.8%); of participants experiencing myalgia, 15 (83.3%) also experienced arthralgia. The investigators found that participants had an average symptom duration of 27.9 (SD 6.97) months post-infection. Out of the assessed participants, 13 (72.2%) met the FMS criteria, with an average WPI score of 8.8 and an average SS score of 8.2, which indicate a high level of pain and a significant impact on quality of life. Five participants (27.8%) did not meet the ACR criteria for FMS, 4 of which were male.2

“This emerging evidence points to a substantial occurrence of FMS among those recovering from COVID-19, underlining the need for further investigation into the relationship between infectious diseases and chronic pain syndromes,” lead investigator Omar Khoja, PhD candidate, Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, and colleagues wrote.2

REFERENCES

1. Liu A, Liao P, Jiang H, et al. COVID- 19 vaccination reduces new-onset fibromyalgia risk in survivors. BMC Med. 2025;23(1):255. Published 2025 May 1. doi:10.1186/s12916-025-04069-z

2. Khoja O, Mulvey M, Astill S, Tan AL, Sivan M. New-Onset Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Following COVID-19 Infection Fulfils the Fibromyalgia Clinical Syndrome Criteria: A Preliminary Study. Biomedicines. 2024;12(9):1940. Published 2024 Aug 23. doi:10.3390/biomedicines12091940