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. 2022 Jul;88(7):3529-3534.
doi: 10.1111/bcp.15280. Epub 2022 Feb 28.

Association study between herpes zoster reporting and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273)

Laure-Hélène Préta  1 , Adrien Contejean  2   3 , Francesco Salvo  4   5 , Jean-Marc Treluyer  1   3 , Caroline Charlier  2   3 , Laurent Chouchana  1   3
Affiliations

Association study between herpes zoster reporting and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273)

Laure-Hélène Préta et al. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Several cases of herpes zoster (HZ) following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273) have been reported, and the first epidemiological evidence suggests an increased risk. We used the worldwide pharmacovigilance database VigiBase to describe HZ cases following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. We performed disproportionality analyses (case/non-case statistical approach) to assess the relative risk of HZ reporting in mRNA COVID-19 vaccine recipients compared to influenza vaccine recipients and according to patient age. To 30 June 2021, of 716 928 reports with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, we found 7728 HZ cases. When compared to influenza vaccines, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were associated with a significantly higher reporting of HZ (reporting odds ratio 1.9, 95% CI 1.8-2.1). Furthermore, we found a reduced risk of reporting HZ among under 40-year-old persons compared to older persons (reporting odds ratio 0.39, 95% CI 0.36-0.41). Mild and infrequent HZ reactions may occur shortly after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, at higher frequency than reported with influenza vaccination, especially in patients over 40 years old. Further analyses are needed to confirm this risk.

Keywords: COVID-19; disproportionality; herpes zoster; mRNA vaccines; pharmacovigilance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report that there are no conflicts of interest to declare.

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