The immune response induced by COVID-19 vaccination could trigger acute exacerbations and death in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, clinicians have warned.

Although documented cases have been rare to date, Italian researchers say adults with the chronic lung disease require close monitoring after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine to detect worsening of symptoms or oxygen desaturation.

But they stressed that inoculation against SARS-CoV-2 was still strongly advised in the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) population and that the benefits continued to outweigh the risks.

In a research letter published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, specialists at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome have provided a detailed account of four adults with IPF hospitalised shortly after vaccination.