CHANDIGARH: Besides fever and fatigue, skin inflammation may also show up after Covishield vaccination, which subsides on its own. Information about these adverse events have been published in a recent PGI study.
The researchers found three cases of Covishield induced minor cutaneous adverse effects. In one of the cases, a 25-year-old woman complained of low-grade fever, joint pain as well as red, painful nodules on the legs and forearms for three days. She said she had received Covishield a week prior to the episode. Cutaneous examination revealed multiple Erythematous (redness) tender nodules (EN) on lower legs and forearms.
After treatment, the skin symptoms resolved completely at follow-up visit after two weeks. No recurrence was observed on receiving a second dose after 4 weeks.
Authors claimed that this was the first such report of a Covid vaccine induced EN. “Any adverse event is common after medication or vaccines but the public is fed with information that causes fear. We don’t want to misinform or hide and that is why we highlighted these events after vaccination,” said Dr Rahul Mahajan, corresponding author of the study.
The study has been published as a letter to the editor in the “Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology”.
In another case, a 55-yearold man presented with the first episode of herpes zoster-a viral infection that causes an outbreak of painful rash or blisters on the skin. The patient gave a previous history of varicella and had not been vaccinated against herpes zoster. He reported receiving the first dose of Covishield three days prior to the skin eruption. In this case also, the symptoms were resolved after two weeks.
A 24-year-old man reported with complaints of asymptomatic cutaneous eruption for three days. He was diagnosed with pityriasis rosea (PR) --a rash that usually begins as a large circular/ oval spot on the chest, abdomen or back. PR-like rash has been reported previously with Covid-19 infection and other Covid-19 mRNA vaccines.
“While reactivation of herpes and pityriasis rosea have been described with Covid vaccination before, erythema nodosum EN has not been reported previously. As these adverse effects were mild and resolved, the general population should feel assured about its safety and should be encouraged to adopt vaccination at the earliest,”said Dr Rahul.
