Varicella zoster virus reactivation following COVID-19 injections is on the rise.
Doctors and scientists are seeing an increase in the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, known as varicella zoster virus (VZV), after injections of COVID-19.
The varicella-zoster virus is one of eight known herpes viruses that infect humans. After a person contracts chickenpox and recovers, the virus never leaves the body but remains dormant in the nervous system years later until it reactivates as shingles or herpes zoster (HZ).
The federal health authorities say there is no link between COVID-19 injections and shingles, but studies show that people who receive the vaccine have a higher incidence of shingles.
Israel was one of the first countries to publish a case series of six women (out of 491 participants) with an autoimmune disease who developed herpes zoster 3 to 14 days after receiving the first or second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. None of the 99 participants in the control group developed shingles.
In another case study from Taiwan, researchers reported on three healthy men aged 71, 46 and 42 who developed herpes zoster two to seven days after the first dose of Moderna or AstraZeneca COVID-19 injection.
The largest study to date, based on real-life data from more than two million patients, found that those who were vaccinated (those who were vaccinated against COVID-19 within 60 days) had a higher incidence of shingles than those who were not vaccinated.
“Vaccinia reactivation appears to be a potential adverse reaction [adverse drug reaction] to COVID-19 vaccines, at least for LNP mRNA formulations,” the authors write, adding that “COVID- 19 appears to potentially increase the risk of developing HZ [shingles].”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also says there is “no link at this time” between COVID-19 vaccines and varicella-zoster virus reactivation.
Follow us in: Telegram