Herpes Infection Possibly Linked to COVID-19 Vaccine, Study Says

New York Post reported:

Herpes infections may be a side effect of a COVID-19 vaccine, experts have revealed.

Scientists in Israel identified six cases in a new study of patients developing a skin rash known as herpes zoster — or shingles — after receiving the Pfizer vaccine, according to a study in the Rheumatology journal.

Herpes zoster starts off as a small, itchy skin rash, but if left untreated, it could cause nerve damage and pain, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Contaminated surfaces have never been driving the COVID-19 pandemic, and the CDC finally clarified that this week. Though it is conceivable that you could be infected by touching an infected doorknob or pen, the CDC now admits that “the risk is generally considered to be low.” It’s so low that even if you were unlucky enough to touch a doorknob immediately after someone with COVID, you might have to touch an average of 10,000 doorknobs to get infected!

The new statements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are crucial and could provide a game-changing breath of fresh air. The scientific brief gives a final endorsement for us to finally move on from excessive cleaning of surfaces, which steals precious money, time, and energy, but does little to protect from infection.

Hypervigilant surface cleaning was an understandable human response to an invisibly-spread, frightening global pandemic. Cleaning gave us a visible way to join the fight against the virus. In the beginning of the pandemic, cleaning surfaces was also one of the only actions that gave a sense of control and peace. So we hoarded Clorox wipes and bleach, and we poured ourselves into cleaning with passion and fervor. Products like disinfectant foggers, were pitched at a terrified public, desperate to fight the spread.

The problem with surface cleaning is that SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is a respiratory virus that travels primarily through the air, and cleaning surfaces does very little to stop that spread. By now, we are all weary of the fight: business and family budgets are broken, energy is waning, and attention is divided. Spending any extra energy or money on ineffective efforts distracts us from the real battle against an airborne virus. Now we can finally put all our energy into things that really protect us. To get past COVID we need to keep efforts focused on preventing airborne spread, and we can stop wasting effort on over-cleaning.

Respiratory aerosols can be inhaled no matter where you are in a room. If you are standing within a few feet from someone infected, you breathe in a high concentration of virus and the risk is highest. Even if you are standing on the other side of the room, the virus can still infect you. At first, most public health agencies wrongly assumed that COVID-19 was spreading primarily through touch or droplets. It still could be possible to get sick by shaking hands with an infected person, but increasingly deep and wide evidence has shown that inhalation of these smaller aerosols drives the majority of COVID spread.

By admitting that COVID-19 is transmitted primarily through inhalation of virus-containing aerosols, at both short distances and after mixing into the rest of the room, we can take appropriate steps to prevent it from spreading. Wearing tight-fitting masks is important because it means that aerosols can’t leak into the room or your inhaled breath through the gaps around your nose or under your chin. Keeping a few feet of distance from others is important so you back away from the exhalation zone of a potentially infected person. Reducing time indoors with other potentially infected people is important because your overall risk goes up with the number of breaths of potentially infected air you take in. Increasing ventilation and filtration is important because this helps remove the aerosols that build up indoors.

To be clear, washing your hands and doing standard cleaning of high-touch surfaces with soap is important because some spread is possible through close or frequent interactions. And getting a vaccine as soon as possible is important to protect yourself and others against worrying virus variants.