Dermatomyositis belongs to the family of inflammatory myopathies. It is an autoimmune disease with muscle and skin expression associated with vasculopathy. In children, its disease-modifying treatment combines corticosteroids and immunosuppressants. A Brazilian team carried out a prospective multicenter study including 42 patients with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDD), aged 9 to 20 years, without selective criterion of disease activity or treatment, and 35 control subjects. All received 3 doses of quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines (Gardasil®), according to the vaccination schedule in force in Brazil in the event of autoimmune disease. After follow-up until the 6th month after the 3rd injection, the investigators concluded that:
- the side effects appearing after vaccination are mild (pain at the injection site, local edema, headache, fatigue, etc.) and comparable in the two groups, the only significant difference concerns nausea after the 1st dose and itching after the 3rd dose, more frequent in patients with dermatomyositis than in the control group;
- dermatomyositis activity remained stable in the majority of patients, with 5 participants even experiencing significant improvement during the observation period (increase in Childhood Myositis Assessment Scale or CMAS of at least 20%);
- anti-HPV16 and 18 seropositivity did not show a statistical difference in the two groups and reached 94% after the 3rd dose of vaccine in participants with dermatomyositis, even in those on immunosuppressants.
