February 9, 2021 – The Reddit Message Board user looked for others in similar misery to share their stories. The 27-year-old had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Two and a half weeks later, the user developed herpes zoster. “Has anyone else had a similar experience?” asked the post. “My doctor said there are anecdotes similar to mine.”
At least one respondent said that this was probably not a coincidence. I think it is quite possible to wake up a case of shingles after a vaccination. “
Infectious disease specialists disagree, however, that this is cause and effect, but interest in a possible link remains high. According to Google Trends, searches for the term “Covid Shingles” were very popular in the search engine over the past week
“There is no scientific evidence for this [association]”said Dr. Aaron Glatt, chief infectious disease chief at Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, NY, and spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a painful viral infection that people with chickenpox can get when the virus is reactivated. The shingles vaccine Shingrix is recommended for people aged 50 and over to prevent the disease.
William Schaffner, MD, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and also spokesman for IDSA, agrees that there is no evidence of an association with the COVID-19 vaccine. “Aside from people who previously had severe allergic reactions, no other incidents with other medical events that exceed the normal background rate of these events in the community have been found,” Schaffner cited CDC data.
Cases of shingles are not surprising, both doctors agree, but there is no evidence that they are related to the COVID-19 vaccine. “Things happen especially with older adults,” says Schaffner. “We need to identify medical events that could be caused by chance. So far we have had no other events than allergic reactions [linked to the vaccine]. “
“It is almost certain that those who got shingles didn’t get Shingrix,” Glatt added.
“Almost one in three people in the US will develop shingles in their lifetime,” says Glatt. It does not surprise him that shingles cases are occurring since many of the millions of Americans who have received their COVID-19 vaccine are older and your risk of developing shingles increases as you age.
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