Auditory response to pulsed radiofrequency energy

J A Elder et al. Bioelectromagnetics. 2003.

ABOUT ARTICLE BELLOW Note the timelines involved in development of more highly pathogenic strains of the Marek’s disease virus. Now this is a DNA herpesvirus. Coronaviruses are RNA viruses, and mutate more rapidly. So who knows. But vaccines that are this leaky are a problem

IMMUNOLOGY Vaccines Are Pushing Pathogens to Evolve ByMELINDA WENNER MOYER May 10, 2018Just as antibiotics breed resistance in bacteria, vaccines can incite changes that enable diseases to escape their control. Researchers are working to head off the evolution of new threatsMatthew J. Jones, a research assistant at Pennsylvania State University, takes a sample of dust collected from a chicken farm to test it for signs of the virus that causes Marek’s disease, an infection common among poultry. Some evidence suggests that the virus that causes the disease is becoming immune to yet another version of the vaccine that controls it.Sasha Maslov for Quanta Magazine -20180510 Read and his colleagues are studying how the herpesvirus that causes Marek’s disease — a highly contagious, paralyzing and ultimately deadly ailment that costs the chicken industry more than $2 billion a year — might be evolving in response to its vaccine. Its latest vaccine, that is. Marek’s disease has been sickening chickens globally for over a century; birds catch it by inhaling dust laden with viral particles shed in other birds’ feathers. The first vaccine was introduced in 1970, when the disease was killing entire flocks. It worked well, but within a decade, the vaccine mysteriously began to fail; outbreaks of Marek’s began erupting in flocks of inoculated chickens. A second vaccine was licensed in 1983 in the hopes of solving the problem, yet it, too, gradually stopped working. Today, the poultry industry is on its third vaccine. It still works, but Read and others are concerned it might one day fail, too — and no fourth-line vaccine is waiting. Worse, in recent decades, the virus has become more deadly.

EvolutionVolume 67, Issue 3 p. 851-860Free Access

VACCINATION AND REDUCED COHORT DURATION CAN DRIVE VIRULENCE EVOLUTION: MAREK’S DISEASE VIRUS AND INDUSTRIALIZED AGRICULTURE

Katherine E. Atkins,Andrew F. Read,Nicholas J. Savill,Katrin G. Renz,AFM Fakhrul Islam,Stephen W. Walkden-Brown,Mark E. J. WoolhouseFirst published: 18 September 2012https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01803.xCitations: 49 SUMMARYMarek’s disease virus (MDV), a commercially important disease of poultry, has become substantially more virulent over the last 60 years. This evolution was presumably a consequence of changes in virus ecology associated with the intensification of the poultry industry. Here, we assess whether vaccination or reduced host life span could have generated natural selection, which favored more virulent strains. Using previously published experimental data, we estimated viral fitness under a range of cohort durations and vaccine treatments on broiler farms. We found that viral fitness maximized at intermediate virulence, as a result of a trade-off between virulence and transmission previously reported. Our results suggest that vaccination, acting on this trade-off, could have led to the evolution of increased virulence. By keeping the host alive, vaccination prolongs infectious periods of virulent strains. Improvements in host genetics and nutrition, which reduced broiler life spans below 50 days, could have also increased the virulence of the circulating MDV strains because shortened cohort duration reduces the impact of host death on viral fitness. These results illustrate the dramatic impact anthropogenic change can potentially have on pathogen virulence.

Scientists Say We Can See Sound

By Robin Nixon August 18, 2008 Your brain’s visual system can be employed to hear, according to a study of monkeys. Scientists figure this might be one reason blind people develop keen hearing.

BioelectromagneticsVolume 24, Issue S6 p. S162-S173ReviewFree Access

Auditory response to pulsed radiofrequency energy

J.A. Elder,C.K. ChouFirst published: 14 November 2003https://doi.org/10.1002/bem.10163Citations: 37 The human auditory response to pulses of radiofrequency (RF) energy, commonly called RF hearing, is a well established phenomenon. RF induced sounds can be characterized as low intensity sounds because, in general, a quiet environment is required for the auditory response. The sound is similar to other common sounds such as a click, buzz, hiss, knock, or chirp. Effective radiofrequencies range from 2.4 to 10 000 MHz, but an individual’s ability to hear RF induced sounds is dependent upon high frequency acoustic hearing in the kHz range above about 5 kHz. The site of conversion of RF energy to acoustic energy is within or peripheral to the cochlea, and once the cochlea is stimulated, the detection of RF induced sounds in humans and RF induced auditory responses in animals is similar to acoustic sound detection. The fundamental frequency of RF induced sounds is independent of the frequency of the radiowaves but dependent upon head dimensions. The auditory response has been shown to be dependent upon the energy in a single pulse and not on average power density. The weight of evidence of the results of human, animal, and modeling studies supports the thermoelastic expansion theory as the explanation for the RF hearing phenomenon. RF induced sounds involve the perception via bone conduction of thermally generated sound transients, that is, audible sounds are produced by rapid thermal expansion resulting from a calculated temperature rise of only 5 × 10⁻⁶ °C in tissue at the threshold level due to absorption of the energy in the RF pulse. The hearing of RF induced sounds at exposure levels many orders of magnitude greater than the hearing threshold is considered to be a biological effect without an accompanying health effect. This conclusion is supported by a comparison of pressure induced in the body by RF pulses to pressure associated with hazardous acoustic energy and clinical ultrasound procedures. Bioelectromagnetics Supplement 6:S162–S173, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Advances in Optics and Photonics Vol. 8, Issue 4, pp. 586-617 (2016)

Photoacoustics: a historical review

Srirang Manohar and Daniel Razansky

We review the history of photoacoustics from the discovery in 1880 that modulated light produces acoustic waves to the current time, when the pulsed variant of the discovery is fast developing into a powerful biomedical imaging modality. We trace the meandering and fascinating passage of the effect along several conceptual and methodological trajectories to several variants of the method, each with its set of proposed applications. The differences in mechanisms between the intensity modulated effect and the pulsed version are described in detail. We also learn the several names given to the effect, and trace the modern-day divide in nomenclature. © 2016 Optical Society of America

Sardes, en otros idiomas Sardis (griego antiguo αἱ Σάρδεις, en jónico Σάρδιες, forma contraída Σάρδῑς, lidio Sfard, persa Sparda) fue una antigua ciudad de Asia Menor fundada por el rey lidio Giges (680-644 a. C.) como capital del antiguo reino de Lidia. Se corresponde con la actual Sart, en la provincia turca de Manisa, en la ladera septentrional del monte Tmolo (actual Boz Dag), en el valle medio del río Pactolo (actual Gediz), que desemboca en el mar Egeo.

REVEALED: Omicron was in the Netherlands five days BEFORE South Africa alerted the world about it 

By Jack Newman For Mailonline and Associated Press16:38 GMT 30 Nov 2021 , updated 08:34 GMT 01 Dec 2021

• Dutch health chiefs have found Omicron in samples dated from November 19
• But South Africa only reported the variant to the WHO on November 24 
• The strain was being spread around the world before anyone knew it existed

A crystal radio receiver, also called a crystal set, is a simple radio receiver, popular in the early days of radio. It uses only the power of the received radio signal to produce sound, needing no external power. It is named for its most important component, a crystal detector, originally made from a piece of crystalline mineral such as galena.^[1] This component is now called a diode.

Crystal radios are the simplest type of radio receiver^[2] and can be made with a few inexpensive parts, such as a wire for an antenna, a coil of wire, a capacitor, a crystal detector, and earphones (because a crystal set has insufficient power for a loudspeaker).^[3] However they are passive receivers, while other radios use an amplifier powered by current from a battery or wall outlet to make the radio signal louder. Thus, crystal sets produce rather weak sound and must be listened to with sensitive earphones, and can receive stations only within a limited range of the transmitter.^[4]

1. Carr, Joseph J. (1990). Old Time Radios! Restoration and Repair. US: McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 7–9. ISBN 0-8306-3342-1.
2. ^ ^a b c Petruzellis, Thomas (2007). 22 Radio and Receiver Projects for the Evil Genius. US: McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 40, 44. ISBN 978-0-07-148929-4.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Field, Simon Quellen (2003). Gonzo gizmos: Projects and devices to channel your inner geek. US: Chicago Review Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-55652-520-9.
4. ^ ^a b c Schaeffer, Derek K.; Thomas H. Lee (1999). The Design and Implementation of Low Power CMOS Receivers. Springer. pp. 3–4. ISBN 0-7923-8518-7.

READ hand Dynamo Charger usb for phones

How do Cell Phone Crank Chargers Work? Turning the hand crank generates power through electromagnetic induction, which basically just means as you spin the handle it spins a magnet within a wire coil. As the surfaces pass one another electrons are stripped from the magnetic field creating a sustainable form of electricity. The energy is then stored in the battery or capacitor to be used as needed.

Evidence ancient Babylonians were far more advanced than we thought – BBC REEL 6 dic2021Plimpton 322 is the name given to a 3,800-year-old clay tablet discovered in Iraq in the early 20th Century by archeologist Edgar J Banks, the man believed to have inspired Indiana Jones. Over time this tablet has become one of the most significant and most studied objects of the ancient world. Dr Daniel Mansfield, of the University of New South Wales, who has studied Plimpton 322 along with other similar tablets, argues that these are evidence that the Babylonians were solving real-world problems, such as surveying, using the basics of Pythagoras’ theorem 1,000 years before the ancient Greeks.

La vacuna contra el sarampión pierde su eficacia año con año

Análisis escrito por Dr. Joseph MercolaDatos comprobados 17 de Octubre, 2020

• Es probable que la eficacia de la vacuna MMR para combatir el sarampión, las paperas y la rubéola pierda fuerza con los años
• Los problemas incluyen el análisis de la inmunidad humoral, que podría subestimar la protección, y la falta de estandarización para evaluar la inmunidad, por lo que no es posible realizar comparaciones precisas entre laboratorios
• Las preocupaciones sobre la seguridad de las vacunas se ven reflejadas en la cantidad de personas que dudan en vacunarse contra el COVID-19, lo que lleva a los investigadores a tratar de cambiar su opinión

Did Merck Unfairly Monopolize the Market for a Mumps Vaccine?

By Ed SilvermanSept. 10, 2014 12:50 pm ETSHARETEXT

Did Merck use false pretenses to monopolize the market for mumps vaccines?

A pair of lawsuits – one of which is filed by former employees and the other by doctors – make this allegation and a federal judge is allowing both claims to proceed.

Case 2:10-cv-04374-CDJ Document 61 Filed 09/05/14 Page 1 of 42

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ex rel. :
STEPHEN A. KRAHLING AND : CIVIL ACTION
JOAN A. WLOCHOWSKI, :
:
Relators, : NO. 10-4374 &
: NO. 12-3555
v. :
:
MERCK & CO., INC., :
:
Defendant. :
AMENDED MEMORANDUM
Jones, II, J. September 5, 2014

In Civil Action No. 10-4374, Relators Stephen A. Krahling and Joan A. Wlochowski
(“Plaintiffs”) bring this qui tam action in accordance with the False Claims Act (“FCA”),
pursuant to 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-33. Relators allege that their former employer, Defendant Merck
& Co., Inc. (“Merck”) fraudulently misled the government and omitted, concealed, and
adulterated material information regarding the efficacy of its mumps vaccine in violation of the
FCA. The United States declined to intervene in this action, filing a Notice of Election to Decline
Intervention before this Court on April 27, 2012. (Dkt. No. 14). Defendant moves to dismiss the
Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), 8(a)and 9(b). (Dkt.
No. 45).
In Civil Action No. 12-3555, Chatom Primary Care, P.C., Andrew Klein, M.D., John I.
Sutter, M.D. (the “Plaintiffs”) bring this putative class action alleging monopolization in
violation of the Sherman Act under 15 U.S.C. § 2 and violations of various state laws. (Dkt. No.

26.) Defendant moves to dismiss the Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure 12(b)(6) and 9(b). (Dkt. No. 40).
For purposes of deciding the Motions to Dismiss, this memorandum takes as true facts as
alleged in the Amended Complaints. See Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 233 (3d
Cir. 2008). For the reasons that follow, Defendant’s Motions regarding all claims for both cases
are granted in part and denied in part.

Unexpectedly Limited Durability of Immunity Following Acellular Pertussis Vaccination in Preadolescents in a North American Outbreak 

Maxwell A. Witt, Paul H. Katz, David J. WittClinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 54, Issue 12, 15 June 2012, Pages 1730–1735,  March 2012 Article history

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Abstract

Background. Despite widespread childhood vaccination against Bordetella pertussis, disease remains prevalent. It has been suggested that acellular vaccine may be less effective than previously believed. During a large outbreak, we examined the incidence of pertussis and effectiveness of vaccination in a well-vaccinated, well-defined community.

Methods. Our center provides care to 135 000 patients, 40% of the population of Marin County, California. A total of 171 patients tested positive for B. pertussis from 1 March to 31 October 2010 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Electronic medical records were reviewed for demographic characteristics and vaccination status.

Results. We identified 171 cases of clinical pertussis, 132 of which were in pediatric patients. There was a notable increase in cases among patients aged 8–12 years. The rate of testing peaked among infants but remained relatively constant across ages until 12 years. The rate of positive tests was low for ages 0–6 years and increased among preadolescents, peaking among those aged 12 years. The vaccination rate among PCR-positive preadolescents were approximately equal to that of controls. The vaccine effectiveness was 41%, 24%, and 79% for children aged 2–7 years, 8–12 years, 13–18 years, respectively.

Conclusions. Our data suggests that the current schedule of acellular pertussis vaccine doses is insufficient to prevent outbreaks of pertussis. We noted a markedly increased rate of disease from ages 8–12 years, proportionate to the interval since the last scheduled vaccine. Stable rates of testing ruled out selection bias. The possibility of earlier or more numerous booster doses of acellular pertussis vaccine either as part of routine immunization or for outbreak control should be entertained.Topic: 

• polymerase chain reaction
• child
• demography
• disease outbreaks
• immunity
• infant
• pediatrics
• pertussis vaccine
• vaccination
• vaccines
• pertussis
• electronic medical records
• immunization, childhood
• pre-teen
• community

Issue Section: Articles and Commentaries

Guidance

Human Augmentation – The Dawn of a New Paradigm

A think-piece designed to set the foundation for more detailed research and development on human augmentation.From:Ministry of DefencePublished13 May 2021

Documents

Human Augmentation – The Dawn of a New Paradigm Strategic Implications Project

PDF, 5.35MB, 110 pages

Details

The Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) has worked in partnership with the German Bundeswehr Office for Defence Planning to understand the future implications of human augmentation (HA), setting the foundation for more detailed Defence research and development.

The project incorporates research from German, Swedish, Finnish and UK Defence specialists to understand how emerging technologies such as genetic engineering, bioinformatics and the possibility of brain-computer interfaces could affect the future of society, security and Defence. The ethical, moral and legal challenges are complex and must be thoroughly considered, but HA could signal the coming of a new era of strategic advantage with possible implications across the force development spectrum.

HA technologies provides a broad sense of opportunities for today and in the future. There are mature technologies that could be integrated today with manageable policy considerations, such as personalised nutrition, wearables and exoskeletons. There are other technologies in the future with promises of bigger potential such as genetic engineering and brain-computer interfaces. The ethical, moral and legal implications of HA are hard to foresee but early and regular engagement with these issues lie at the heart of success.

HA will become increasingly relevant in the future because it is the binding agent between the unique skills of humans and machines. The winners of future wars will not be those with the most advanced technology, but those who can most effectively integrate the unique skills of both human and machine.

The growing significance of human-machine teaming is already widely acknowledged but this has so far been discussed from a technology-centric perspective. This HA project represents the missing part of the puzzle.

¿Las vacunas antiCOVID ponen en riesgo la inmunidad natural?

Análisis escrito por Tessa Lena

• 8 de Diciembre, 2021Descargar PDF

La nueva frontera comercial actual es el ámbito biológico y el cuerpo humano, también conocido “el cuerpo como plataforma”. En términos de mercado, el cuerpo humano tiene el potencial de mercado de un recurso natural. ¿Sabe cómo dicen que los datos son el nuevo petróleo? Si los datos son el nuevo petróleo, entonces todos somos servidores de datos y podemos esperar que nos traten como si fuéramos reservas de petróleo.

“Así es como se aplica a la inmunidad natural. Una persona sana con inmunidad natural podría ser una persona feliz, pero para un emprendedor biotecnológico de 2021 que ve el cuerpo humano como un mercado a dominar, es un puro insulto. Desde el punto de vista de ese emprendedor, le conviene reemplazar la inmunidad natural predeterminada de los últimos millones de años con una herramienta completamente artificial que requiere una ‘suscripción’ de por vida (ver ‘variantes’ y ‘refuerzos’).

Conclusión: por desgracia parece que las vacunas antiCOVID podrían comprometer nuestra inmunidad innata de amplio espectro al menos hasta cierto punto, y desearía que alguien con conciencia lo hubiera investigado muy a fondo antes de inyectar el producto en miles de millones de cuerpos. ¿Por qué? Porque a pesar de lo que piensen de nosotros los defensores de la Cuarta Revolución Industrial, somos seres humanos, no plataformas comerciales.

The Introduction of Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis and Oral Polio Vaccine Among Young Infants in an Urban African Community: A Natural Experiment

Søren Wengel Mogensen, Andreas Andersen, […], and Peter Aaby

Additional article information

Associated Data

Supplementary Materials

Abstract

Background

We examined the introduction of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) and oral polio vaccine (OPV) in an urban community in Guinea-Bissau in the early 1980s.

Methods

The child population had been followed with 3-monthly nutritional weighing sessions since 1978. From June 1981 DTP and OPV were offered from 3 months of age at these sessions. Due to the 3-monthly intervals between sessions, the children were allocated by birthday in a ‘natural experiment’ to receive vaccinations early or late between 3 and 5 months of age. We included children who were < 6 months of age when vaccinations started and children born until the end of December 1983. We compared mortality between 3 and 5 months of age of DTP-vaccinated and not-yet-DTP-vaccinated children in Cox proportional hazard models.

Results

Among 3–5-month-old children, having received DTP (± OPV) was associated with a mortality hazard ratio (HR) of 5.00 (95% CI 1.53–16.3) compared with not-yet-DTP-vaccinated children. Differences in background factors did not explain the effect. The negative effect was particularly strong for children who had received DTP-only and no OPV (HR = 10.0 (2.61–38.6)). All-cause infant mortality after 3 months of age increased after the introduction of these vaccines (HR = 2.12 (1.07–4.19)).

Conclusion

DTP was associated with increased mortality; OPV may modify the effect of DTP.Keywords: Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, DTP, Measles vaccine, Non-specific effects of vaccines, Oral polio vaccine

The BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 reprograms both adaptive and innate immune responses

 View ORCID ProfileF. Konstantin Föhse,  View ORCID ProfileBüsranur Geckin,  View ORCID ProfileGijs J. Overheul,  View ORCID ProfileJosephine van de Maat,  View ORCID ProfileGizem Kilic,  View ORCID ProfileOzlem Bulut, Helga Dijkstra, Heidi Lemmers, S. Andrei Sarlea, Maartje Reijnders,  View ORCID ProfileJacobien Hoogerwerf,  View ORCID ProfileJaap ten Oever, Elles Simonetti,  View ORCID ProfileFrank L. van de Veerdonk,  View ORCID ProfileLeo A.B. Joosten,  View ORCID ProfileBart L. Haagmans, Reinout van Crevel,  View ORCID ProfileYang Li,  View ORCID ProfileRonald P. van Rij,  View ORCID ProfileCorine GeurtsvanKessel,  View ORCID ProfileMarien I. de Jonge,  View ORCID ProfileJorge Domínguez-Andrés,  View ORCID ProfileMihai G. Neteadoi:  article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

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Summary

The mRNA-based BNT162b2 vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech was the first registered COVID-19 vaccine and has been shown to be up to 95% effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections. Little is known about the broad effects of the new class of mRNA vaccines, especially whether they have combined effects on innate and adaptive immune responses. Here we confirmed that BNT162b2 vaccination of healthy individuals induced effective humoral and cellular immunity against several SARS-CoV-2 variants. Interestingly, however, the BNT162b2 vaccine also modulated the production of inflammatory cytokines by innate immune cells upon stimulation with both specific (SARS-CoV-2) and non-specific (viral, fungal and bacterial) stimuli. The response of innate immune cells to TLR4 and TLR7/8 ligands was lower after BNT162b2 vaccination, while fungi-induced cytokine responses were stronger. In conclusion, the mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine induces complex functional reprogramming of innate immune responses, which should be considered in the development and use of this new class of vaccines.

An mRNA Pioneer Discusses How Her Work Led to the COVID Vaccines

Biochemist Katalin Karikó and her colleague Drew Weissman were recently awarded a $3-million Breakthrough Prize for their work

• By Tanya Lewis on September 15, 2021

When foreign mRNA is injected into the body, it causes a strong immune response. But Karikó and Weissman figured out a way to how to modify the RNA to make it less inflammatory by substituting one DNA “letter” molecule for another. Next they worked on how to deliver it. After testing many different delivery vehicles, they settled on lipid nanoparticles as the delivery vehicle. These turned out to work incredibly well: the nanoparticles acted as an adjuvant, a substance that enhances the desired immune response to a vaccine.

Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA

Katalin Karikó et al. Immunity. 2005 Aug.Free article DNA and RNA stimulate the mammalian innate immune system through activation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs). DNA containing methylated CpG motifs, however, is not stimulatory. Selected nucleosides in naturally occurring RNA are also methylated or otherwise modified, but the immunomodulatory effects of these alterations remain untested. We show that RNA signals through human TLR3, TLR7, and TLR8, but incorporation of modified nucleosides m5C, m6A, m5U, s2U, or pseudouridine ablates activity. Dendritic cells (DCs) exposed to such modified RNA express significantly less cytokines and activation markers than those treated with unmodified RNA. DCs and TLR-expressing cells are potently activated by bacterial and mitochondrial RNA, but not by mammalian total RNA, which is abundant in modified nucleosides. We conclude that nucleoside modifications suppress the potential of RNA to activate DCs. The innate immune system may therefore detect RNA lacking nucleoside modification as a means of selectively responding to bacteria or necrotic tissue.

Hepatitis C Virus Reactivation Following COVID-19 Vaccination – A Case Report

Ruud Lensen et al. Int Med Case Rep J. 2021.

Abstract

Purpose: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection impacted morbidity and mortality during the pandemic of 2020-2021. A number of anti-COVID-19 vaccines have been developed with an unprecedented speed. While these vaccines have good efficacy and are safe, the experience with their use is limited and hence the knowledge of rare side effects. Identifying rare complications is important for future safe use of these vaccines.

Materials and methods: Here, we report a case of a 82-year old patient with dementia who was admitted to a nursing home in the Netherlands. After vaccination with COVID-19 vaccination, physical examinations and lab tests were performed.

Results: She had a reactivation of hepatitis C infection after vaccination with the mRNA-based Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. This reactivation manifested with jaundice, loss of consciousness, hepatic coma and death.

Conclusion: This reactivation of hepatitis C virus after vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID‑19 vaccine suggests a need for critical consideration of individuals with prior HCV infection and considered for COVID-19 vaccination.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccination; SARS-CoV-2; hepatitis C; virus reactivation.

Varicella zoster virus reactivation and mRNA vaccines as a trigger

Iñigo Lladó, MD, Alberto Fernández-Bernáldez, MD, and Pedro Rodríguez-Jiménez, MD, PhD

Additional article information

To the Editor: We read with great interest the report by Channa et al,1 “Herpes zoster reactivation after mRNA-1273 (Moderna) SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.” Currently, vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is being carried out worldwide. As a consequence, a wide variety of cutaneous adverse effects after COVID-19 vaccination are being described.2 Over the course of the last months, a fair number of herpes zoster cases developing after the administration of COVID-19 vaccines have been reported.1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation is triggered mainly by impaired cell-mediated immunity, whether it be age-related, disease-related, or iatrogenic. Vaccines are not a common trigger for VZV reactivation, and with the exception of VZV reactivation following the VZV vaccine, few cases have been reported. Rodriguez-Jiménez et al5 reported 3 cases of herpes zoster following vaccination against hepatitis A, rabies, and influenza, respectively.

To our knowledge, 52 cases of VZV reactivation following the COVID-19 vaccine have been reported to date. Interestingly, only 1 of 52 cases, was secondary to an inactivated vaccine, whereas the rest of them were secondary to mRNA vaccines (ie, Pfizer’s BNT162b2 and Moderna’s mRNA-1273)1 (Table I). The majority of the cases developed after the first dose versus the second dose of the vaccine (35 vs 15, respectively; 2 unknown), and there was no significant sex predominance (22 women vs 20 men; 10 not specified). However, it must be taken into account that some of the series may suffer from a selection bias.Table IReported cases of VZV reactivation after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination

Surprisingly, most of the patients were middle-aged (ie, in their fifth to sixth decades of life), as someone would expect to observe the highest incidence rates among the oldest patients. Time to the onset of symptoms was highly variable, ranging from 1 to 26 days and showing a median of 6 days. The difference in the time of onset having received the first or the second vaccine dose was not consistent between the series. Lastly, the sample distribution was, overall, highly heterogeneous in terms of comorbidities, past history of herpes zoster, and previous VZV vaccination.

VZV reactivation in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 has been described. The suggested pathogenic mechanism was induced lymphopenia and the functional impairment of lymphocytes, particularly CD8⁺ T cells and natural killer cells. With regard to COVID-19 vaccines, it is postulated that, as a product of a massive shifting of naïve CD8⁺ cells, VZV-specific CD8⁺ cells are not temporarily capable of controlling VZV.4 The question of why VZV reactivation occurs almost exclusively with mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines and not with viral vector or inactivated COVID-19 vaccines remains to be answered. We are aware that the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination, particularly with mRNA-based vaccines, and VZV reactivation could be coincidental. Nonetheless, as new evidence continues to emerge, it becomes harder to deny. In our opinion, clinicians should be aware of this possible adverse effect of mRNA vaccines.

Article information

JAAD Case Rep. 2021 Sep; 15: 62–63.Published online 2021 Jul 22. doi: 10.1016/j.jdcr.2021.07.011PMCID: PMC8298014PMID: 34316507Iñigo Lladó, MD, Alberto Fernández-Bernáldez, MD, and Pedro Rodríguez-Jiménez, MD, PhD^∗