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The corona vaccines can wake up dormant bacterial infections or viruses, says a suspended general practitioner in the summer issue of Psychology Magazine. However, there is no scientific evidence for that statement.
In the summer issue of Psychologies Magazine contains an interview with family doctor Anne Fierlafijn (from page 92), who has been suspended for two years by the Order of Physicians. In addition to the readers of the magazine, the interview also reaches a large audience on social media: among others on Twitter and Facebook are circulating screenshots containing excerpts from the interview, reaching thousands more.
In the interview, Fierlafijn warns about the ‘dangers of the corona vaccines’. According to her, these could have serious side effects, weaken our immune system and could wake up dormant bacterial infections or viruses.
In this fact check we limit ourselves to the claim ‘The corona vaccines can wake up dormant bacterial infections or viruses’. In Knack of 27 July you can read a fact check about the statement that vaccines and boosters weaken the immune system. That statement comes from the same interview with Fierlafijn.
Zone
The corona vaccines can wake up dormant bacterial infections or viruses, such as zona in anyone who has ever had chickenpox. Psychologies Magazine stated. Fierlafijn says that in her practice she sees vaccinated people relapse into viral infections much more often. She gives the example of people who have received zona three to four times in six months. We asked Dr. Fierlafijn via email if she knows of studies showing that the corona vaccines could wake up dormant bacterial or viral infections, but we haven’t received an answer yet.
There are no such studies, say virologist Johan Neyts (KU Leuven) and Jeroen van der Hilst, infectiologists at the Hasselt Jessa Hospital and associate professor of immune pathology at Hasselt University, respectively. ‘There are also no epidemiological indications that zona would flare up more often after vaccination,’ says van der Hilst. ‘Zona or shingles occurs in one in a hundred people over the age of 60. If you know that almost everyone in that age group has been vaccinated against corona, you can expect that one in a hundred vaccinated people will get zona after the vaccine, just like one in a hundred unvaccinated people over 60 will get it.’
Johan Neyts agrees. ‘Zona or shingles is a virus that remains in the body during sleep. It retracts into the nerves of the spine or face and stays there for a lifetime. It is typical for zona that it usually occurs in people over 60 years of age or in people with a reduced resistance. There are no figures to indicate that the corona vaccines would have increased the number of cases of reactivation.’ A review study was published in February 2022 confirming that there is no link between covid vaccination and zona.
No causation
‘It is human nature to look for connections between events that follow each other in time, while there is not necessarily a causal relationship between those events,’ says van der Hilst. ‘In the case of autoimmune diseases or diabetes, for example, it is typical for patients to feel sometimes worse and sometimes better. It is therefore evident that you will also see flare-ups in newly vaccinated patients. If you vaccinate the majority of the population, there will certainly be a number of people who develop certain diseases after vaccination. However, research has not shown that there would be more autoimmune diseases or diabetes cases after vaccination. However, databases are kept about this and research is being conducted to determine whether these cases are due to coincidence or an increased risk after vaccination.’
Both Johan Neyts and Jeroen van der Hilst point out that the interview contains even more inaccuracies than the two claims that Knack dealt with in a fact check. For example, the claims about the number of vaccine side effects are based on a misinterpretation of the VAERS data, as @ArbiterOfTweets previously explained at Twitter.
Conclusion
The corona vaccines can wake up dormant bacterial infections or viruses, we read in the summer issue of Psychologies Magazine. There is no scientific evidence for that statement. An overview study into a possible link between corona vaccination and zona – one of the examples presented in the article in Psychologies Magazine given – has shown that there is no link between corona vaccines and zona. We therefore rate the claim as untrue.
Also read:
Fact check: no, vaccines and boosters do not weaken our immune system
Sources
In the article you will find links to all the sources used.
In addition, the following people were contacted for this fact check:
– Telephone conversation and e-mail traffic with Johan Neyts between 18 and 26 July 2022
– Telephone conversation and e-mail traffic with Jeroen van der Hilst between 18 and 26 July 2022
All sources were last consulted on July 26, 2022.