Elderly man consented to Covid-19 vaccine, rash is shingles - authorities

 

The Perak Health Department today denied claims that it had administered the Covid-19 vaccine to an elderly man without informed consent.

This comes after the man’s granddaughter claimed a Klinik Kesihatan Padang Rengas medical officer did so, resulting in the man’s skin to flare up in what appeared to be rashes and boils.

The granddaughter’s posting on Twitter, which included photos of her grandfather’s skin condition, went viral with more than 11,000 retweets.

According to Perak Health Director Dr Ding Lay Ming, healthcare staff administered the single-dose CanSino Covid-19 vaccine to the man on April 6 after providing counselling and obtaining signed consent.

The man visited the clinic to receive follow up treatment for dyslipidemia and was offered the vaccine at the same time since he had transport issues to return to the clinic for the jab later.

“He agreed to receive the injection, signed the Covid-19 vaccination consent form and was vaccinated the same day,” she said.

She added the man returned with a relative two days later complaining of a rash on his chest, neck and shoulder.

Upon checks at the Taiping Hospital Dermatology Specialist Clinic, it was found to be shingles.

Shingles, or herpes zoster, are caused by a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus already existing in the body from an earlier infection. This is the same virus that causes chickenpox.

Anyone who has been infected with the virus, including experienced chickenpox, can later develop shingles.

Among others, a decline in immunity from increasing age, medical conditions or medications suppressing the immune system can cause the virus to reactivate, according to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Ding said the man was prescribed antivirals for the shingles and is treated as an outpatient.

She did not state if the vaccine had caused the varicella-zoster virus in the man to reactivate.

Earlier, the man’s granddaughter claimed a medical officer had “forced” her grandfather to take the Covid-19 vaccine without proper explanation or checking on his medical history.

“I really hope this goes viral ASAP. My poor Atok,” she wrote.

Since the posting went viral earlier this week, the man’s granddaughter has changed the settings of her Twitter account from public to private.

As such, the posting is no longer accessible to the public.

NPRA: 1,831 serious AEFI reported

Up to April 8, the National Pharmaceuticals Regulatory Agency (NPRA) has received 26,071 reports of adverse effects from immunisation (AEFI) with the Covid-19 vaccine.

This translates to 377 AEFI reports for every million doses administered.

Of that, 93 percent are not serious and involve side effects like pain in the injected area, headache, muscle pain and fatigue.

Some 1,831 reports or 27 out of every million doses administered as considered serious AEFI, resulting in patients having to be admitted to hospital, loss of use of limbs or organs or requiring significant medical intervention.

The NPRA has also received 610 AEFI reports which involve deaths, of which 460 were determined to be unrelated to the vaccine while the rest are pending investigation by the Covid-19 Vaccine Pharmacovigilance Special Taskforce.

One of the cases investigated involved a child who was brought in dead, but early investigations showed the child had a pre-existing illness, the NPRA said. - Mkini