Herpes zoster after COVID vaccination. (October 2021) - van Dam, C.S.
Highlights: COVID-19 can present as a skin manifestation, including varicella-zoster reactivation The development of herpes zoster after vaccination with tozinameran is described in two adults A possible cause is a transient lymphocytopenia that occurs after vaccination An evaluation of the relationship between COVID-19 (vaccines) and herpes zoster is needed 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.