New research aims to find a link between receiving a file mRNA vaccine for covid-19 and shingles, also known as shingles, in certain people with autoimmune conditions. But while it’s worth exploring the link, the average person shouldn’t be worried about this potential risk or pay close attention to misleading news articles covering the investigation.
The study was published last week in the journal Rheumatology of Israeli Scientists. They studied people with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases, conditions that include rheumatoid arthritis, and compared them to a similar group of people who had no autoimmune disease. Of about 500 patients with these conditions, they identified six (1.2%) who developed shingles shortly after receiving the Pfizer / BioNTech covid-19 vaccine, compared with zero people in the control group. who also got the shot.
The findings, the authors wrote, show that more research is needed to “clarify the association” between the Pfizer mRNA vaccine and shingles, a disease caused by shingles virus. It is important to note that this does not mean the vaccine gave them shingles virus.
The lead author, Victoria Furer, was careful to explain it Jerusalem Post turned on On Monday they could not say that the “vaccine is the cause” of these cases at this time. At most, he added, vaccination “could be a trigger in some patients.” But that didn’t stop the New York Post from spinning the results in the most clickbity way as possible, with his holder today: “Herpes infection is possibly related to the covid-19 vaccine, according to the study.”
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The above is technically true. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox, a member of the herpesvirus family called chickenpox. But when people see the words “herpes infection,“The majority we will no doubt think we are talking about genital herpes, the sexually transmitted infection caused by two other herpesviruses. The Jerusalem Post, for its part part, done of course the study was about shingles, but people did they probably recognize the disease more often as shingles.
Simply calling herpes zoster a herpes infection is misleading otherwise. This is because it is not a new infection but rather the reactivation of the virus that has remained dormant in the body for years or decades, after a first case of chickenpox. This often happens because the immune system weakens as we age, but it is also more likely to pass at younger ages in people with autoimmune disorders. Once shingles reappears, it can cause distinctive rashes and sometimes weary nerve pain that can continue to persist after the infection is beaten again. Luckily, those vaccinated against chickenpox seems to have a much lower risk of shingles and now there is a vaccine available specifically for shingles.
In fact, it is unlikely that vaccination against covid-19 may increase the risk of reactivation of shingles. There is some evidence that covid-19 itself can trigger shingles, due to its effects on the immune system or the stress it causes people. And at least some scientists, dating back to the late 1990s, to own worried than the immune response caused by any vaccine can make people temporarily more vulnerable to shingles. All of these theoretical risks could be amplified in people with compromised immune systems or taking medications to dampen their hyperactive immune system, as some of the patients in this study did.
At least another case report and several anecdotes from doctors have also suggested a link between covid-19 vaccines and shingles. But other experts have rightly done so warned which we simply do not have strong evidence of a direct causal link between the two at this time. Esells in this new one in the study, the link does not appear to be overwhelming, as only 1.2% of patients with autoimmune disease developed shingles after vaccination. In the meantime, so far no indication of an increased risk of shingles after vaccination in the general public.
So yes, although scientists should continue to study this connection, it is unlikely to be a very rare risk among some people who are already vulnerable to shingles. And no, the covid-19 vaccine will not give you herpes.