"Introduction
... Herpesviridae consists of a DNA virus that falls into a varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV). Herpesviruses (HHV) are mostly known for their ability to cause latent infection, which can become reactivated by triggers such as stress, lack of sleep, physical fatigue, exposure to sunlight, fever, menstruation, and surgical resection. HHVs are capable of remaining in different types of body cells after the first infection and become reactivated when the host is experiencing an immunocompromised state... [S]epsis shock, intensive care unit (ICU) administration, usage of anti-inflammatory drugs, and prolonged ventilation are risk factors for the immunocompromised state which can lead to reactivation of these viruses...
[T]he present study was designed to determine the correlation between the COVID-19 vaccine administration and reactivation of herpes virus and review the cases who have experienced this condition, to increase awareness about the clinical manifestation of herpes reactivation following COVID-19 vaccination...
Methods
We conducted a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and guideline provided by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions...
Results of meta-analysis
The results of our proportion meta-analysis showed that the rate of VZV reactivation among those who received COVID-19 vaccine was 14 persons per 1000 vaccinations (95% CI 2.97–32.80). Moreover, our meta-analysis for HSV reactivation showed the rate of 16 persons per 1000 vaccinations (95% CI 1.06–46.4)...
Discussion
... The results from observational cohorts showed that the administration of COVID-19 vaccine, especially mRNA-based ones, could be associated with VZV reactivation. It should be noted that most information available was regarding VZV, and not many reports were available for other types of herpesviruses...
One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that, although vaccines are critical for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine administration could lead to the reactivation of the herpes virus family...
The results from our study are in line with recent systematic reviews which also reported an association between COVID-19 vaccine and VZV reactivation."
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