COVID-19 Vaccine-Induced Severe Pneumonitis

Tatsuro Suzuki; Hiromi Furuta; Misa Naganawa; Keiko Hayashi; Hiroko Kiyotoshi; Chiharu Ohta; Shigemitsu Ninomiya

doi:10.1002/rcr2.70274

COVID-19 Vaccine-Induced Severe Pneumonitis

Respirol Case Rep. 2025 Aug 21;13(8):e70274. doi: 10.1002/rcr2.70274. eCollection 2025 Aug.

Authors

Tatsuro Suzuki^{1

2}, Hiromi Furuta¹, Misa Naganawa¹, Keiko Hayashi¹, Hiroko Kiyotoshi¹, Chiharu Ohta¹, Shigemitsu Ninomiya¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine Toyokawa City Hospital Toyokawa City Japan.
² Department of Respiratory Medicine, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences Nagoya City Japan.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in global morbidity, mortality, and societal disruption. COVID-19 mRNA vaccination was mandatory in many countries for a period; however, severe adverse events have been observed in some individuals who received the vaccine. We report a case of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced pneumonitis in a male patient whose cytokine levels were analysed prior to admission. His serum IgE level was high (347 U/mL), and several cytokines were elevated: TNFα was 1.2 pg/mL, IL-6 was 156 pg/mL, and IL-8 was 75.0 pg/mL. The patient developed severe respiratory failure requiring ventilatory support but recovered after steroid pulse therapy.

Keywords: COVID‐19; cytokine; interstitial pneumonia; vaccine.