COVID Vaccine Side Effects in Lyme Disease Patients
Some individuals with Lyme disease have expressed concern that their symptoms could worsen after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. To better understand these concerns, researchers examined the symptom burden of people with a history of Lyme disease who were vaccinated compared with those who were not.
Study Overview
Questions about vaccine safety have persisted because some rare complications may not have been detected during Phase 3 vaccine trials. Critics have pointed out that strict enrollment criteria, short follow-up periods, and highly selected trial participants may not fully represent the general population.
Participants with certain medical conditions were excluded from many trials. These exclusions included individuals with:
- Recurrent severe infections
- Autoimmune conditions
- Serious psychiatric illness
- Other significant medical disorders
Because of these exclusions, individuals with chronic illnesses such as Lyme disease may not have been well represented in early vaccine studies.
Post-vaccine surveillance is therefore important to better understand vaccine safety among people with Lyme disease.
Methods
This study analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey of individuals with Lyme disease. Participants were recruited through social media using a snowball sampling approach.
Symptom burden was measured using the General Symptom Questionnaire-30 (GSQ-30), a validated self-report instrument designed to assess symptoms commonly seen in Lyme disease.
The GSQ-30 evaluates four symptom domains:
- Pain and fatigue
- Neurologic symptoms
- Neuropsychiatric symptoms
- Viral-like symptoms
Each symptom is rated on a five-point scale ranging from “not at all” to “very much,” producing a total score between 0 and 120.
Results
A total of 1,168 individuals with Lyme disease participated in the survey.
- 616 participants (52.7%) had received a COVID-19 vaccine
- 552 participants (47.3%) were unvaccinated
Among vaccinated individuals:
- 55.5% received the Pfizer vaccine
- 32.8% received Moderna
- 9.1% received Johnson & Johnson
- 2.6% received another vaccine
The average GSQ-30 symptom score for vaccinated participants was 43.5, compared with 46.6 for unvaccinated participants. Although this difference was statistically significant, it was relatively small.
Both groups reported higher symptom burdens than healthy individuals, but scores were similar to those seen in patients with depression and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS).
Common Vaccine Side Effects
Most vaccinated participants reported minor side effects, similar to those seen in the general population.
The most frequently reported symptoms included:
- Pain at the injection site (88.9%)
- Fatigue (72.9%)
- Headache
- Body aches
The rates of side effects were similar across vaccine brands.
Severe Reactions
Only 25 individuals (about 4%) reported severe symptoms lasting longer than 72 hours.
The most common symptoms in these cases included:
- Fatigue
- Fever and chills
- Body aches
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Heart palpitations
A few participants described worsening of symptoms they associated with their tick-borne illness, though the cause of these reactions remains unclear.
Discussion
Overall, vaccination did not appear to worsen symptom burden for most individuals with Lyme disease. Importantly, none of the participants reported severe vaccine complications such as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, Guillain-Barré syndrome, or myocarditis.
These findings suggest that the overall risk of vaccination in individuals with Lyme disease is similar to that seen in the general population.
Patients with Lyme disease should also consider the potential risks of COVID-19 infection itself, including hospitalization and long COVID, when weighing vaccination decisions.
Study Limitations
This survey has several limitations. Because the study was cross-sectional, it cannot determine cause-and-effect relationships. In addition, voluntary participation may introduce selection bias, and symptoms reported by participants may be related to co-existing medical conditions.
Future longitudinal studies will be needed to better understand the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and symptom changes in individuals with Lyme disease.
This is false information ! Tick borne infections cause hypercogulation the vaccine is known to cause blood clots . The Covid vaccine is known to cause immune deficiency & the cardiovascular system just like tick borne infections . Dr Cameron you should be ashamed of yourself circulating false dangerous information
Thank you for your comments. None of the survey participants reported hypercoagulation, immune deficiency or cardiovascular system issues. The Survey was not designed to determine whether these were conditions were present that the participant was not aware of.
Are you accepting insurance for clinical trials?
Hello. I am sorry to say we are not running a clinical trials.
I have had long hall Lyme for ten years. I was a bit unwell after my first two vaccines but since my booster on 05 January 2022 I have been extremely unwell with full blown Lyme symptoms again . Could not function. Only just coming out of it 2.5 months later.
You are not alone. There were others in the Survey who were ill for years with Lyme disease who had a severe flareup with the vaccine. There were others who have had a severe flareup after contracting COVID-19. In fact one in five Lyme disease patients reported suffering from long covid after contracting COVID-19.
I was bitten at 18 and diagnosed at 40. I spent 13 years on several antibiotics and now I’m only using herbals. I have severe shortness of breath and air hunger. I’m concerned about the worsening of these symptoms. After having taken two years off from working, I need to get back to work in healthcare. I feel slightly better about getting the vaccine, but I’m still scared of worsening SOB. It’s been so bad, I thought of going to ER as I feel like my breathing was shutting down. I also am taking a trip to Hawaii. I’m still on the fence about all of this. Thank you for sharing this valuable info!
Thank you for contributing to the body of knowlege we need to make sense of this 5000 piece puzzle. Anecdotally, I had no reaction to the vaccines. My lyme related discomforts are due to immaturaty: I’m an American goddammit, I can eat what I want! No. Can’t eat sugar. So, I’m glad vaccines are no longer dispensed on sugar cubes.
So it has been a few years, since I took the COVID VACCINES. I am now on my 3rd spring – 2022, 23, 24 – of coming down with Lyme. Not a FLARE. I have blood work proof showing I didn’t have it detectable, and then I did.. like 12 bands positive. I am wondering if the COVID VACCINE, somehow affected me.. I was Lyme free… for 2019, 20 and 21? Are we looking at long-range effects of the COVID VACCINE regarding Lyme patients?
I was looking at the role COVID-19 played on patients with a history of Lyme disease. Lyme disease patients with COVID or the COVID vaccine were not much different that Lyme disease patients who did not have COVID or the COVID vaccine. The take home Don’t get Lyme disease. The survey was not designed to address your question.