Three clinical cases of herpes zoster after vaccination against COVID-19 in active athletes
Bulgarian Medical Journal, 2023, 17(1), 67-70.
Miteva1, V. Valtchev2
1 Occupational Medicine Department, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University – Sofia, Bulgaria
2 Physiology and Biochemistry Department, National Sport Academy „Vasil Levski” – Sofia, Bulgaria
Abstract. Shingles is a viral skin disease caused by the Varicella Zoster virus. We report varicella zoster virus reactivation in three long-time athletes after vaccination with a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. The three athletes had no evidence of immunosuppressive conditions or other illnesses, and all three did not suffer from COVID-19. The first patient is a 21-year-old athlete with an 8-year sports career. He developed shingles four days after being vaccinated against COVID-19. The second athlete is 20 years old and has been actively involved in fitness for ten years. He was diagnosed with herpes zoster three days after the vaccination. The third athlete is 23 years old and has been actively involved in sports and fitness since the age of 6; he was diagnosed 4 days after the vaccination against COVID-19. All three were diagnosed by a dermatologist. Discussion: The relationship between the development of herpes zoster after the administration of a vaccine against COVID-19 has been the subject of many studies worldwide, but the occurrence of herpes zoster after Covid-19 vaccination in athletes is described for the first time. Our team did not find a report of a case of an athlete with herpes zoster after vaccination for COVID-19 anywhere, which motivated us to describe the above three cases.
Key words: herpes zoster, COVID-19, sports, vaccine, athletes
Address for correspondence: Assoc.prof. Iva Miteva, дм, e-mаil: i.miteva@foz.mu-sofia.bg