COVID-19 Vaccination and the Risk of Migraine Chronification: A Comparative Cohort Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Patients With Episodic Migraine.
11 affiliations
- 1Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
- 2Neuroscience Department, King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
- 3Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan.
- 4Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, St. George's University, St. George's, Grenada, West Indies.
- 5Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Damietta, Egypt.
- 6Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
- 7Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shibin El Kom, Egypt.
- 8Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
- 9Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
- 10Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
- 11Faculty of Medicine, Kasr Al-Ainy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Abstract
Introduction
Headache is among the most frequently reported adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination, and patients with migraine often fear that vaccination will worsen their disease or accelerate the transition from episodic to chronic migraine. Controlled data comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated patients with migraine are scarce.Methods
We conducted a comparative prospective cohort study of 60 adults with pre-existing episodic migraine, classified at enrolment as vaccinated (n = 30) or unvaccinated (n = 30) against COVID-19, at a single neuroscience clinic in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and followed for 6 months. Migraine status (episodic or chronic, per ICHD-3) was assessed at 3 and 6 months. Between-group chronification was compared using Fisher's exact test with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs); patient-level transitions were also examined. No a priori sample-size calculation was performed.Results
There were no statistically significant baseline differences between groups in age (30.3 ± 5.07 vs. 30.5 ± 4.46 years; p = 0.87), sex (p = 0.78), or preventive medication (p = 0.58). Provisional chronic-frequency status was recorded in 5/30 vaccinated versus 11/30 unvaccinated patients at 3 months (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.10-1.16; p = 0.14), and chronic migraine in 3/30 versus 6/30 at 6 months (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.10-1.97; p = 0.47). All such transitions occurred by 3 months, with no new cases between 3 and 6 months; the confidence intervals were wide and included no difference.Conclusions
In this small observational cohort, no statistically significant association was detected between COVID-19 vaccination and migraine chronification. The wide confidence intervals preclude firm conclusions regarding either harm or benefit, and larger, adequately powered studies are needed.
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BibTeX
@article{meshref2026covid19,
title = {{COVID-19 Vaccination and the Risk of Migraine Chronification: A Comparative Cohort Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Patients With Episodic Migraine.}},
author = {Mostafa Meshref and Hossam Younis and Khabab Abbasher Hussien Mohamed Ahmed and Elsayed Abed and Abdallah Abbas and Yehia Nabil and Abdullah Ashraf Hamad and Muhammad Atallah Gad and Nour Shaheen and Mahmoud Farid Abdelmonem and Ahmed Gaballa and Ahmed Kohail and Mohamed Mahmoud Ahmed and Abdelsalam Abdullah Ali and Abdelrahman R Youssef and Khaled Moghib},
journal = {Brain and behavior},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/brb3.71881},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42961170},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - COVID-19 Vaccination and the Risk of Migraine Chronification: A Comparative Cohort Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Patients With Episodic Migraine.
AU - Mostafa Meshref
AU - Hossam Younis
AU - Khabab Abbasher Hussien Mohamed Ahmed
AU - Elsayed Abed
AU - Abdallah Abbas
AU - Yehia Nabil
AU - Abdullah Ashraf Hamad
AU - Muhammad Atallah Gad
AU - Nour Shaheen
AU - Mahmoud Farid Abdelmonem
AU - Ahmed Gaballa
AU - Ahmed Kohail
AU - Mohamed Mahmoud Ahmed
AU - Abdelsalam Abdullah Ali
AU - Abdelrahman R Youssef
AU - Khaled Moghib
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Brain and behavior
DO - 10.1002/brb3.71881
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42961170
AB - Introduction Headache is among the most frequently reported adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination, and patients with migraine often fear that vaccination will worsen their disease or accelerate the transition from episodic to chronic migraine. Controlled data comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated patients with migraine are scarce.Methods We conducted a comparative prospective cohort study of 60 adults with pre-existing episodic migraine, classified at enrolment as vaccinated (n = 30) or unvaccinated (n = 30) against COVID-19, at a single neuroscience clinic in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and followed for 6 months. Migraine status (episodic or chronic, per ICHD-3) was assessed at 3 and 6 months. Between-group chronification was compared using Fisher's exact test with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs); patient-level transitions were also examined. No a priori sample-size calculation was performed.Results There were no statistically significant baseline differences between groups in age (30.3 ± 5.07 vs. 30.5 ± 4.46 years; p = 0.87), sex (p = 0.78), or preventive medication (p = 0.58). Provisional chronic-frequency status was recorded in 5/30 vaccinated versus 11/30 unvaccinated patients at 3 months (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.10-1.16; p = 0.14), and chronic migraine in 3/30 versus 6/30 at 6 months (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.10-1.97; p = 0.47). All such transitions occurred by 3 months, with no new cases between 3 and 6 months; the confidence intervals were wide and included no difference.Conclusions In this small observational cohort, no statistically significant association was detected between COVID-19 vaccination and migraine chronification. The wide confidence intervals preclude firm conclusions regarding either harm or benefit, and larger, adequately powered studies are needed.
SN - 2162-3279
ER -