Herpes infections can be a side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts have revealed.
According to a study published in the journal Rheumatology, Israeli scientists identified six cases in a new study of patients who developed a rash known as shingles after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.
Shingles begins as a small, itchy rash, but if left untreated, it can cause nerve damage and pain, the Jerusalem Post reported.
This may include a prolonged burning sensation in the skin even after the rash disappears.
Researchers at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center and Haifa’s Carmel Medical Center found that those with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases had a higher risk of developing herpes infection.
According to the researchers, of 491 patients, six people or 1.2 percent experienced the infection.
All six patients presented with mild cases of autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases and were young, although infection is usually more common in those over 50 years of age.
“That’s why we reported it,” Dr. Victoria Furer, the lead author, said at the outing.
Five of them developed shingles after the first dose and the sixth got it after the second.
But it is still unclear whether the vaccine caused the cases of shingles.
“We can’t say the vaccine is the cause right now,” Furer said on the way out. “We can say it can be a trigger in some patients.”
Furer said additional research is needed and an implication could be to encourage patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases to get vaccinated against shingles before shooting them against COVID-19.
“We don’t have to scare people,” he told the Jerusalem Post. “The general message is to get vaccinated. It’s important to be aware. “