Herpes Zoster after COVID-vaccination

C S van Dam, I Lede, J Schaar, M Al-Dulaimy, R Rösken, M Smits

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39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

COVID-19 presents in various ways, but mainly as a pulmonary disease (Marzano, 2020). Skin manifestations have been reported, including reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (Marzano, 2020). Our case report describes two adults developing herpes zoster after vaccination with tozinameran (the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine). A possible cause for this reaction is a transient lymphocytopenia that occurs after the vaccination — similar to that in COVID-19 disease (Mulligan, 2020; Wang, 2020; Qin, 2020; Brabilla, 2020; Wang, 2020; Wei, 2017). In the context of vaccinating older and/or immunocompromised adults, our observations can be the starting point for further evaluation of a possible relationship between COVID-19, COVID vaccines, and herpes zoster.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)169-171
Number of pages3
JournalInternational Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume111
Early online date21 Aug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021

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