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Case Reports
. 2022 Aug:121:85-88.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.04.058. Epub 2022 Apr 30.

A Fatal Breakthrough COVID-19 Case Following Bendamustine-Rituximab Therapy

Kohei Kamegai  1 , Noriko Iwamoto  2 , Tomiteru Togano  1 , Kenji Maeda  3 , Yuki Takamatsu  3 , Yusuke Miyazato  1 , Masahiro Ishikane  1 , Masashi Mizokami  1 , Masaya Sugiyama  1 , Shun Iida  4 , Sho Miyamoto  4 , Tadaki Suzuki  4 , Norio Ohmagari  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

A Fatal Breakthrough COVID-19 Case Following Bendamustine-Rituximab Therapy

Kohei Kamegai et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Although messenger ribonucleic acid vaccines are substantially effective toward SARS-CoV-2 infection, patients with hematologic malignancies are still prone to the virus. Herein, we report a fatal case of breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant infection in a patient with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma with remission by bendamustine-rituximab (BR) therapy completed a year ago. The serologic study revealed impaired responsiveness toward vaccines and prolonged high viral load after infection. BR therapy seemingly induced an immune escape. Prevention and treatment strategies for such vulnerable patients should be clarified immediately.

Keywords: Bendamustine-rituximab therapy; Breakthrough; COVID-19; Fatal; Immune escape.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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