Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb;50(1):87-92.
doi: 10.1016/j.burns.2023.06.016. Epub 2023 Jun 28.

The seven-fold rise in incidence of Stevens-Johnson syndrome & toxic epidermal necrolysis: Associations with COVID-19 and the vaccine

Edward A Stanley  1 , Lois Zhang  2 , Justine O'Hara  3 , Peter Haertsch  3 , Peter Maitz  3
Affiliations

The seven-fold rise in incidence of Stevens-Johnson syndrome & toxic epidermal necrolysis: Associations with COVID-19 and the vaccine

Edward A Stanley et al. Burns. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)/toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a rare, potentially life threatening mucocutaneous hypersensitivity reaction resulting in desquamation of the skin and mucosa. These patients are managed on burns units due to the widespread desquamation. We report the largest case series of participants developing SJS/TEN in the setting of recent COVID infection or vaccination. We found a seven-fold increase in SJS/TEN since the COVID pandemic. This increase correlates with an increase in COVID infections and vaccination rates. We explore the immunopathological relationships between COVID and SJS/TEN and propose theories for possible associations.

Keywords: COVID-19; Stevens-Johnson syndrome; Toxic epidermal necrolysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.

Comment in

LinkOut - more resources