Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease Following COVID-19 Vaccination: Experience at a Population-Based Referral Center

• Published in: American journal of clinical pathology Vol. 160; no. 2; pp. 114 - 118
• Main Authors: Craig, Jeffrey W, Farinha, Pedro, Jiang, Aixiang, Lytle, Andrew, Skinnider, Brian, Slack, Graham W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Case reports; COVID-19 - complications; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 vaccines; COVID-19 Vaccines - adverse effects; Health Resources; Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis - diagnosis; Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis - pathology; Humans; Lymphadenitis; Mathematical models; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Public health; Statistical analysis; Vaccination; Vaccination - adverse effects; Canada; British Columbia; COVID-19; Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease; vaccination
• ISSN: 0002-9173; 1943-7722
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcp/aqad032

Multiple case reports describe Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) following COVID-19 vaccination, but the true nature of this phenomenon is unknown. The purpose of this study was to further assess the relationship between KFD and COVID-19 vaccination at the population level. Confirmed KFD cases from January 2018 to April 2022 were identified from provincial pathology archives and analyzed in the context of vaccination statistics from public health resources. Our statistical models provide evidence of a temporal association between KFD and both antecedent COVID-19 vaccine administration as well as age-stratified vaccination rates. Eight new cases of plausible COVID-19 vaccine-associated KFD are presented, collectively exhibiting clinical and pathologic features that overlap substantially with those of idiopathic KFD. Our findings indicate that KFD is observed in association with COVID-19 vaccination and suggest that mechanistic studies are warranted.