At least 25 % of Patients have Shedding After COVID Vaccines.

Post COVID Vaccine Related Shedding is Common.

Dr AlHarbi from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia set out to estimate prevalence of telogen effluvium among those individuals who received COVID‐19 vaccination. Dr AlHarbi performed a cross‐sectional study in the month of July 2021. Adults who received one of recognized COVID‐19 vaccine were asked to fill a questionnaire.

The majority of participants in this study were females (90.3%). The most common age group was between 21 and 30 years (51.9%). Vaccines included Pifzer mostly as well as Astrazeneca. Out of 991 participants who were included in the study, 670 (67.6%) reported post‐vaccination hair loss. The most likely  causes of post‐vaccination hair loss was felt to be vaccine‐related in 185 (27.6%) participants and unclear in 326 (48.7%) and due to other causes in 326 (48.7%) participants.

This study highlights that vaccines can likely trigger shedding in a large proportion of patients. This number is likely somewhere between 27% and 70%. We need to be aware of this shedding phenomenon as vaccines may become yearly in many countries.

Reference

M Alharbi et al. Telogen effluvium after COVID-19 vaccination among public in Saudi Arabia. J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Oct;11(10):6056-6060.