It has been just revealed that experts have come up with an explanation about the reactivation of viruses following COVID-19 vaccines. Check out the latest reports below.
Virus reactivation following COVID-19 vaccine
After being infected with COVID-19 or receiving the vaccine, some individuals may experience reactivated or recurrent infections such as herpes, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), urinary tract infections (UTIs), or even COVID-19 again.
Studies suggest that this phenomenon may be linked to lymphopenia, which is a condition characterized by low levels of lymphocytes.
Lymphocytes are a type of immune cell that includes natural killer cells, which are important in killing cancer and infected cells.
B and T cells, which are the body’s last line of defense, are also types of lymphocytes. Persistent lymphopenia may be a contributing factor to the recurrence of infections after a COVID-19 infection or vaccination.
According to Dr. Keith Berkowitz, an internal medicine physician who has treated over 200 long-COVID and post-vaccine patients, in any infection, the white blood cell count can either increase or decrease and then restore back to normal over time.
However, with COVID-19, many patients are experiencing persistent suppression of the immune system due to a T-cell effect.
Dr. Berkowitz noticed that many of his patients had low T-cell counts, which didn’t stabilize even after a subsequent infection.
Normally, low immune cell counts tend to stabilize after an illness or vaccination, but this doesn’t seem to be the case with long-COVID patients.
Persistent lymphopenia, which refers to the persistent low levels of lymphocytes, is a characteristic feature of immune deficiency.
This condition can make people more susceptible to opportunistic infections, including reactivated viruses and bacterial infections such as urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Several studies have also shown that reactivated viral infections, such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and herpes, are common in such cases.
It can be challenging to determine whether long-COVID and post-vaccine symptoms in patients are due to the original COVID-19 infection, the vaccine, or the persistent viral infection. Dr. Berkowitz suggests that this can be particularly challenging.
