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Shingles May Be Triggered by Covid Shots

shingles on the back of a woman

A large retrospective cohort study conducted by researchers in Germany and the University of Virginia compared the incidence of shingles among individuals who did and did not get a Covid-19 shot and found a statistically significant difference providing evidence for an association between Covid vaccinations and increased risk for developing shingles or herpes zoster (HZ). The authors pointed out that “an association of HZ with Covid vaccination has been reported worldwide” and concluded that “the eruption of HZ may be a rare adverse reaction to Covid shots,” noting that varicella zoster (VZ), or chickenpox, reactivation is a well-established phenomenon both with infections and with other vaccines.”

Shingles is caused by the HZ virus and appears as a blistering, painful rash that occurs when VZ, the virus that causes chicken pox, is reactivated and moves to the nerves of the skin, where it produces the painful shingles rash. Like other herpes viruses, VZ lays dormant in the nervous system until it is reactivated.1 Elderly persons 60 years and older are more likely to develop shingles, especially if they are not asymptomatically boosted throughout life by coming in close contact with children recovering from chicken pox infections.2 3 About 20 percent of those who recover from shingles suffer from post-herpetic neuroglia lasting from months to years.4

Certain events can trigger the onset of shingles, including the natural decline of immunity that comes with age, stress, drugs and vaccines.5 Recently, there have been wide-spread reports of VZ virus reactivating after receiving a Covid shot, especially with messenger RNA (mRNA) technology such as Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty and Moderna/NIAID’s Spikevax biologics.6

Some experts have speculated that the link between the reactivation of varicella zoster and Covid shots could be due to the changes in immune system function after vaccination.  Risk factors for getting shingles include being older, undergoing severe stress and a weakened immune system.

Study Included Millions of People Who Did and Did Not Get Covid Shots

The study looked at real world data of 1,095,086 people, who received a Covid shot compared to 16,966,018 people who did not get the shot  and visited a clinic within the TriNetX Global Health Research Network database. The Network database aggregates data from multiple healthcare centers across 19 countries and the subjects were matched for age and gender. The vaccinated group visited the clinic for the purpose of being vaccinated, while the unvaccinated group went to the clinic for another reason.

Study results revealed that the vaccinated group had a 20 percent chance of coming down with shingles post Covid vaccination while the unvaccinated group had 11 percent odds of developing the painful virus within 60 days of visiting the clinic. The study authors concluded that the difference was statistically highly significant.7

The authors wrote:

Consistent with the hypothesis, a higher incidence of HZ was statistically detectable post-Covid-19 vaccine. Accordingly, the eruption of HZ may be a rare adverse drug reaction to Covid-19 vaccines.8

SARS-CoV-2 Infection Can Also Trigger Shingles

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is known to cause lung and heart problems, has also been found to cause shingles. Numerous case reports indicated that SARS-CoV-2 infections could trigger reactivation of the VZ virus and researchers have hypothesized that it is linked to the physical and psychological stress of the body trying to deal with the SARS-CoV-2 infection.9

The journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases published a large study in 2022 comparing 400,000 people who had SARS-CoV-2 to 1.6 million people who have not had the viral infection. Adults over the age of 50 who had been infected with SARS-CoV02 had a 15 percent higher chance of coming down with shingles with the next six months. Patients who had severe cases of Covid requiring hospitalization had a 21 percent risk of developing shingles.10

Another Study Indicates Shingles May be a Side Effect of COVID Shots

A study published by Israeli researchers in 2021 in the British Society of Rheumatology showed that shingles could be a side effect of Covid shots. The observational study evaluated adverse events following Covid vaccination in subjects suffering from autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic disease (AIIRD) and compared 491 patients with AIIRD to 99 control subjects, all of whom received a Covid shot in two rheumatology departments in Israel.11 12

In the AIIRS group, six female subjects developed shingles post vaccination (1.2 percent) compared to zero subjects developing shingles in the control group. Five of the six women came down with shingles after a first Covid shot and one after the second dose. All shingles cases were mild and resolved within six weeks.13

Patients Who Received Three Different COVID Shots Developed Shingles

This year, the journal Family Practice also published a report of three case studies of patients (one male, two females), who came down with shingles three to 13 days after receiving three different types of Covid shots.14 All three patients were between 67-79 years old, were overweight or obese, and had hypertension and dyslipidemia (abnormal amount of lipids in the blood) in their medical history. One patient had recovered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection a year before receiving a Covid shot and did not develop shingles following that Covid infection. All patients received different Covid shots, including Comirnaty, Spikevax, and AstraZeneca/Oxford University’s Vaxzevria, and all three completed the series of three doses despite developing shingles after the first dose.15

Study authors hypothesized surmise that “an altered immune landscape involving cellular immunity might be implicated in this phenomenon.”16

Immune System Depression Post Vaccination May Set Stage for Reactivation of Varicella Virus

A May 2022 study looked at 10 case studies of shingles that occurred one to three weeks after Covid vaccination. The authors speculated that, similar to Covid infections, transient immunomodulation following vaccination could result in reactivation of the HZ virus. More specifically, they proposed that lowered counts of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and natural killer cells could set the stage for reactivation of HZ and development of shingles.17

Complications from shingles include postherpetic neuralgia; ophthalmicus (painful rash in the fifth cranial nerve shared by the eye); acute retinal necrosis (death of eye tissue); Ramsay Hunt syndrome (facial paralysis near the ear and hearing loss); Bell’s palsy and Guillain-Barré syndrome, which involve paralysis of the face or limbs); encephalitis (brain inflammation), aseptic meningitis (inflammation of lining of brain) and myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord); peripheral motor neuropathy (damage to nerves that control muscles), and bacterial skin infection.18

The study authors noted that reactivation of the herpes virus is a rare complication of other vaccines, most notably influenza, hepatitis A, rabies, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever vaccines and that, while research is limited so far, the Covid shots can likely be added to this list. They warned:

Vaccination initiatives for Covid-19 are in full swing. Given the large number of people who will be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, a possible causal link could result in a large number of cases among the elderly, with devastating consequences. Post-marketing surveillance procedures must be in place, and ongoing vaccination safety assessments are critical for detecting any occurrence that could reduce the projected benefits and, as a result, taking obligatory action to reduce hazards amongst vaccinated people…Our findings necessitate a further investigation of the possible relationship between Covid-19 and herpes zoster in the context of vaccinating elderly and/or immunocompromised people.19

A Decrease in Lymphocytes May Play Role in Shingles Post Vaccination

Covid is known to cause lymphopenia, a condition whereby blood doesn’t have a sufficient number of lymphocytes (white blood cells) to help the immune system protect the body from infection.20 21 Symptoms of lymphopenia may include swollen lymph nodes, spleen and joints;  fever; skin ras; frequent infections or inability to heal from an infection. All types of white blood cells decrease but CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes tend to decrease the most and this T-lymphocyte impairment could lead to shingles.

The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid mRNA shot trials showed that there was a dose-dependent decrease in lymphocytes in the first few days after receiving the shot. At the currently used dose, up to 46 percent of the trial study participants had a transient decrease in lymphocytes count to below 1×10.9 The trial authors speculated that it is during this window of time when lymphocyte counts are lowered that the VZ virus can reactivate in the body.22


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Click here to view References:

1 Seladi-Shulman J, Goodwin M. Can a COVID-19 Vaccine Increase Your Risk of Shingles? Healthline Oct. 14, 2022.
2 Raines K, Fisher BL. CDC Accused of Manipulating Shingles Data. The Vaccine Reaction Aug. 19, 2019.
3 Forbes H, Douglas I, Finn et al. Risk of herpes zoster after exposure to varicella to explore the exogenous boosting hypothesis: self controlled case series study using UK electronic healthcare data. BMJ 2020; 368: 16987.
4 Agrawal S, Verma K, Verma I et al. Reactivation of Herpes Zoster Virus After COVID-19 Vaccination: Is There Any Association? Cureus May 2022; 14(5): e2519.
5 Ibid.
6 Seladi-Shulman J, Goodwin M. Can a COVID-19 Vaccine Increase Your Risk of Shingles? Healthline Oct. 14, 2022.
7 Hertel M, Heiland M, Nahles S et al. Real-world evidence from over one million COVID-19 vaccinations is consistent with reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Apr. 26, 2022; 36; Iss. 8.
8 Ibid.
9 van Dam CS, Schaar J, Al-Dulaimy M et al. Herpes zoster after COVID vaccination. Int J Infect Dis October 2021 169-171.
10 DeLaire M. Risk of shingles rises after COVID-19 infection: study. CTV June 28, 2022.
11
O’Laughlin F. Study: Shingles may be side effect of COVID-19 vaccine. WHDH Apr. 20, 2021.
12 Furer V, Zisman D., Kibari, A. et al. Herpes zoster following BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases: a case series. Rheumatology, Vo. 60, Issue SI, October 2021.
13 Ibid.
14 Saraiva A, Viera AR, Marinho MC et al. Varicella zoster virus reactivation following COVID-19 vaccination: a report of 3 cases. Family Practice October 2022; 39(5).
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Agrawal S, Verma K, Verma I et al. Reactivation of Herpes Zoster Virus After COVID-19 Vaccination: Is There Any Association? Cureus May 2022; 14(5): e2519.
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid.
20 What is Lymphopenia? National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute May 31, 2022.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.

32 Responses

  1. I had shingles less then two months ago and had it bad. Right side of top of head down to top of right shoulder. My doctor said it was worse case he has seen in a long time.

    Some Stats –

    No one including myself EVER had a Covid jab. My kids, 11 and 13 have never had any vaccines since day one.

    I take plenty of Vitamin D3/K2 and Liposomal C.

    We eat extremely well and healthy home cooked foods.

    No particular stress than any other time.

    We do not use WiFi in our home.

    I am 62.

    We know one other fellow in his low 40’s. No Covid jabs and had shingles recently.

    My kids ended up getting Chicken Pox. They recovered quite easily but none of the kids they were playing with ended up getting the Pox before our kids showed symptoms. Strange. Those kids eat a lot worse than our kids but of course didn’t have the same exposure/close contact to me.

    Shedding?? Who knows at this point. Don’t know what to believe anymore.

    1. Just to say; I am also getting over Shingles.
      This is the 2nd time for myself. I had it very young at 14 years old & now at 59!
      I have not had any Jabs but believe that it was from being around others who had and caused shedding. I am very healthy; take vitamins every day and eat extremely healthy.
      Rachel

  2. Stop allowing your kids and yourselves to spend time with Covid vaccinated people, especially within two-four weeks of a shot or booster.

  3. I have had shingles for about 50 years now. It does not cause pain. It causes severe itching, which I stop by rubbing on Super Lysine salve (it comes in a tube and I get it at the health food store).

  4. My husband owns a small business that employs about 25 people. He has never required or even suggested that his employees get the jab. In spite of this, most of them got it anyway. We live in a very liberal area and most people here are jabbed. Anyway, two of the males got shingles following jab. One is in his late twenties and broke out within 24 hours of first jab. The other in his sixties and has had 3-4 jabs and been continuously battling shingles. It’s sad to see them suffering. Another employee has had sudden onset pancreatitis following shots (doesn’t drink alcohol). And another female has had delayed wound healing and topical infections since getting it. We’re praying for all those who were deceived by Big Pharma.
    And to the commenter above, I do think people shed this “vaccine.” My nephew came to visit us immediately following his second shot and some of my kids had unusual symptoms (ie bloody noses, headaches and Covid like symptoms) for the first few weeks he was with us. Furthermore, I actually did not know of not a single person in my area with Covid until the vax rollout. Then most of my unvaxxed friends as well as my family got “Delta” ie vax shedding exposure.

  5. “Elderly persons 60 years and older are more likely to develop shingles, especially if they are not asymptomatically boosted throughout life by coming in close contact with children recovering from chicken pox infections.2 3 ” Who is to say this is not true for all of us now, whether elderly or younger? The pediatric Varicella vax came out in 1984. I do not recall my grandparents having ever had shingles, but my elderly father has had shingles. I had already had chickenpox before all this (nonsense) started. If the virus is ever reactivated, I will use St. John’s Wort topically, maybe internally, but I, like Todd who commented, already do these others things. Minimizing stress seems to be key, but who can avoid stress these days? Best we can do seems to be to manage it.

  6. I wonder if hand-foot-and-mouth disease is rising because of this as well? I believe it is in the same family as chickenpox and herpes. I work with young children and see a huge rise in cases and in their parents as well.

  7. I believe you can remove the word “MAY” .There is a great deal of evidence that the continued injections negatively impacts the immune systems ability to contain and destroy pathogens. Shingles, which is really very nasty and discoloring to the skin only emerges in those who have had the chicken pox and their immune system is no longer vibrant enough to suppress the expression of the herpes zoster virus. Merck’s shingle vaccine can’t revitalize an impaired immune system. It does help those who have a good immune system and boosts the immune system antibody activity. Only those who have had chicken pox are at risk as far as I know.Bottom line, yes more people are expressing shingles due to a declining immune system from the injections.

  8. I am not vaxxed and developed shingles on my stomach in early May of 2022 after our son’s fiance was visiting. Our one vaxxed daughter and family also had us down to visit same time. not a bad case of it. I did have children pox as a child.

  9. I’m a 68 year old male, quit going to doctors 14 years ago. I have never worn the face diaper, never have or will get the Clot Shot. The last shot of anything from a doctor was maybe 39 years ago because of a bad motorcycle wreck I probably had a tetanus shot. Last April I got shingles on my left side around to my belly button. To be honest, I would rather go through the motorcycle wreck again which broke my face in 3 places and tore my right ear off, it was held on by a 1/4″ piece of skin. Luckily the doctor on call was a plastic surgeon. I had a few chunks torn out of the top of my head, right hand and back. I’ve fallen before and cracked a couple ribs in the back. I thought that hurt worse than the wreck. Still I’d rather do that than get shingles again.
    Last April when I got shingles my immune system was down mainly I figure because of the stress from the BS lockdown and my small advertising business after 25 years being down by 80%. Fourteen years ago when I quit the medical Cartel system I started reading,, studying natural real health care and changing some of the things I consume,. I started doing detox/cleanses and got my Magnesium deficiency levels up and felt better than I did in my early 30’s. How I got shingles? Maybe lowered immune system from stress, maybe shedding from those that got suckered and feared into the Clot Shot, I don’t know. I hope those responsible for what we all have been going through almost 3 years now will be held accountable to the highest degree and made an example of so no one Ever Dare do it again.
    Unfortunately this is not ending, watch out for the next thing they are pushing to enslave us worldwide, the Banking Cartel and their “Central Bank Digital Currency ” (CBDC). That is going to be magnitudes worse than this Pandemic/Scamdemic.

  10. Our family is also not vaccinated & maintain a healthy diet. Last year we attended a party where we know several family members had just received the covid vaccine. We were not particularly in close contact with them but this was a large party for with many presumed to also be recently vaccinated. Within just over a week of that my husband started experiencing excruciating pain in his upper leg & lower back area. Within days of that he broke out in a shingles rash in that very area. Then within 2weeks of that our teen also broke out in a very small shingles rash on his lower back. None of the rest of us developed shingles.

  11. I’m quite alarmed yet am not surprised. Vaccines carry too many risks especially with experimental Covid vaccine. It’s so upsetting to read the article like that.

  12. I had shingles in August 2021. I have not had the death shot or any other vaxx since I was a kid. I believe I was exposed to shedding. I was at a concert with many people close to me in the audience and the people who I was with at the concert, I know some of them had the death shot. The shingles did start on one side of my stomach but eventually wrapped around my whole middle section, so shingles does not stay on one side of the body. Side note, I live a very healthy lifestyle, whole foods, organic, vegan for 30 years. I have had shingles one other time in my life about 15 years ago, that came on me after being in a very, very stressful circumstance.

  13. I can tell you that those that took the jab, are shedding shingles on others. When it started in in early 2020, my then daughter 22, got a case of shingles, I would say from the jabbed. I know of others that got them as well, and were not vaccinated for the fake flu aka covid 19. I can tell you if you get them seek red light therapy immediately, it promotes fast and painless healing.

  14. I had Singles in July ’21. 58 y/o pureblood. Data tracked optimised nutrition (94% rating). Actively exposed to 3 covid variants (resisting infection on each occasion, confined to headspace) prior to this.
    My shingles was triggered by distress brought on by being targeted in public on 3 occasions by a person harassing me verbally, taking photos and videos of me (without my permission) whilst I was working, with the view to having me sacked. Summary… sudden unexpected distress can be enough to trigger Shingles in some cases.

  15. My mother had shingles to right shoulder, neck, & head, & it invaded her brain & caused damage that closely resembled Alzheimer’s. This dementia affected her for the remainder of her life.

  16. My 35 y/0 nephew came down with such a severe case of shingles less than 3 days post Covid “Vaccine “ that he had to be hospitalized. He is a healthy young man with no history of an autoimmune condition or immune deficiency . I am a retired Nurse Practitioner reporting this incident. I gave him the encouragement and information to report this occurrence.

  17. L-lysine helps reverse symptoms of shingles….. do your own research ,but, it definitely keeps you from needing any pharmaceutical drugs for it.

    1. ” … was covered head to toe in a heavy rash that was diagnosed to be shingles. Her body was like a mat of a rash”

      Not shingles

  18. A good friend of mine got her Covid jab last year and within days was covered head to toe in a heavy rash that was diagnosed to be shingles. Her body was like a mat of a rash and I have never seen anything like it before. She was very miserable and her doctor said it was ‘coincidence’ she came down with shingles following her jab and he refused to report her reaction to VAERS. Instead, she chose to report her reaction to VAERS, along with photographs of her full-body rash that covered over 90% of her body and she ended up hospitalized for the problem,
    My friend’s shingles lasted close to 3 months. She was put on all kinds of medications and nothing seemed to work. I encouraged her to go on L-Lysene, which she believes helped her to heal as she did not decide to take L-Lysene until almost 4 weeks into the her illness and she wishes she had taken it sooner.
    There are so many issues that are caused by the jab and many are being dismissed as ‘coincidence’ instead of being taken seriously. It is a good reason why all potential side effects of the jab needs to be reported to VAERS so they can tabulate the outcomes.
    My friend refused to get a second shot and said never again.

  19. i have received the shingrix shot advertised on tv. everyone told me how painful having shingles was so I was afraid I have not been vaccinated for Covid however after my second shot I got an auto immune disease since the single ricks comes in a series of two I don’t know what to do I’ve been to the doctor she says I can never get rid of this

  20. i have received the shingrix shot advertised on tv. everyone told me how painful having shingles was so I was afraid I have not been vaccinated for Covid however after my second shot I got an auto immune disease don’t know what to do I’ve been to the doctor she says I can never get rid of this auto immune disease

  21. Don’t forget people are getting other shots along with the covid shot. they are pushing the shingle shot, the flu shot, the pneumonia shot. So not only are they shedding the covid shot. they are shedding other shots too. Every time my husband and I are around a large crowd (most of them vaccinated). We get flu like symptoms. It last about 2 days. I just take extra vitamin D, C and zinc and then I feel better. Everyone stay healthy and happy and best to everyone in the New Year!

  22. I am 55. For most of my life, healthy. I have delivered 7 babies at home. Never taken OTC meds. Only been on antibiotics 1 time in my life and only took 1 tablet to appease a concerned loved one.
    I came down with Shingles on Nov. 6, 2021. I had been working long hours bent over sanding and filling in cracks and sealing an old hardwood floor. Many many late night hours, but I wasn’t stressed about it, just determined to finish the job by Nov. 5. A big party at our home.
    I did it, and then discovered a small strange patch on my rib cage the next day. Shingles. That turned into 2 months of a very painful distorted existence. During that time my Mom, who was recently vaxed, came to visit. At my worst point of Shingles, she was visiting. By January 2022, I was recovered. Mid January, I started with knee pains and leg weakness that grew worse every week. No shingles at all. But this new horrible debilitating stiffness and weakness. It became consuming. I could not drive or walk normally, could not lie down by myself or get up on my own. Then my shoulders became affected. This went on until September of 2022. Severe I would say. My whole life changed. I have not had any vaccines since childhood. None of my family I live with have ever been Vaxed of ANY KIND.
    My Mom stayed here when my Immune system was tanked from the Shingles. What caused my shingles? Could it have only been the stress from the hard work of sanding my floors? I’ve been under way more stress before for sure. What triggered this awful debilitating condition? Could it have been shedding from my Mom during her visit for 4 weeks here while I had Shingles?
    I can say I have never known as many sick people from a huge variety of symptoms, not Covid, as I have in the last 3 years. The introduction of Covid has changed the immune system of humanity I would say.

  23. Error reference 7:
    The risk of developing shingles was calculated as 0.20% after COVID vaccine and 0.11% without COVID vaccine , within 60 days after visiting the clinic.

    not
    20 percent chance of coming down with shingles post COVID vaccination while the unvaccinated group had 11 percent odds of developing shingles within 60 days of visiting the clinic.

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