Cutaneous reactions to COVID‐19 vaccine at the dermatology primary care

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines can cause adverse reactions, mainly from vaccine-induced immune responses. Some of these may also involve the skin and worry unaware patients. A better understanding of such adverse reactions may reduce concerns and help promote the vaccination of large population groups. Methods: All the reports of patients admitted to our Dermatology Primary Care, from March 2021 to June 2021, were retrospectively examined to collect descriptive data on skin reactions arising after COVID-19 vaccination. Results: Out of 200 vaccinated patients admitted to the Dermatology Primary Care, 21 (10.5%) referred cutaneous reactions with onset after vaccination. Only one patient required hospitalization for generalized bullous erythema multiforme, which occurred 48 h after the second vaccine dose. The other patients' cutaneous reactions to vaccination were of mild/moderate degree.Three patients presented exacerbation of their cutaneous diseases. Conclusions: Cutaneous reactions observed in our sample were mostly mild or moderate. Awareness must be raised to recognize and treat eventual severe reactions. Future studies are needed to assess the incidence of cutaneous reactions following COVID-19 vaccination.

Woman with pruritic rash and dermatographism

“…Up to 10.5% of patients experience cutaneous adverse reactions following COVID‐19 vaccination. 1 , 2 , 3 Cutaneous manifestations are variable in appearance and time to presentation and may include urticarial, morbilliform, and vasculitic eruptions, as well as delayed localized injection site reactions and chronic spontaneous urticaria. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 Chronic spontaneous urticaria is characterized by urticaria occurring on most days of the week over 6 weeks or longer.…”

“…Up to 10.5% of patients experience cutaneous adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination. [1][2][3] Cutaneous manifestations are variable in appearance and time to presentation and may include urticarial, morbilliform, and vasculitic eruptions, as well as delayed localized injection site reactions and chronic spontaneous urticaria. [4][5][6][7] This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.…”

Morphea in two patients after being infected to and being vaccinated against SARS‐CoV‐2 infection

“… 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 On the contrary, dermatologic complications have also been abundantly observed after being vaccinated against SARS‐CoV‐2. 12 , 13 However, SARS‐CoV‐2‐related morphea has been reported only in few articles. Moreover, to our knowledge, morphea has not yet been demonstrated after COVID‐19 vaccination and our case seems to be the first one.…”

“…The new‐onset or flare‐up of psoriasis, lichen planus, eczematous dermatitis, and many other dermatoses have been reported following COVID‐19 7–11 . On the contrary, dermatologic complications have also been abundantly observed after being vaccinated against SARS‐CoV‐2 12,13 . However, SARS‐CoV‐2‐related morphea has been reported only in few articles.…”

Morphea in two patients after being infected to and being vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 infection

“…The new-onset or flare-up of psoriasis, lichen planus, eczematous dermatitis, and many other dermatoses have been reported following COVID-19 (7)(8)(9)(10)(11). On the other hand, dermatologic complications have also been abundantly observed after being vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 (12,13). However, SARS-CoV-2 related morphea has been reported only in few articles.…”