Women who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 showing up for mammogram screenings with enlarged lymph nodes under their arms, usually on the side where they were vaccinated. But the reaction is occurring much more frequently in COVID-19 vaccine recipients than with others, she adds.
Early CDC data shows women are reporting more vaccine side effects than their male counterparts.
If you get swollen lymph nodes after getting a vaccine shot it is likely you already had the virus.
Those who were previously infected with COVID-19 were more likely to experience swollen lymph nodes after their first dose of Pfizer's vaccine compared to those without a prior documented infection, according to research published April 22 in the preprint server medRxiv.
Researchers in the U.K. conducted an observational study that looked at adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination. A total of 947 healthcare workers across three hospitals participated in the study by self-reporting symptoms after vaccination. Of those, 265 participants had previously tested positive for the virus.
Overall, those who previously contracted COVID-19 were more likely to report at least one moderate to severe symptom compared to those without a prior infection, at 56 percent and 47 percent, respectively.
Specifically, those in the previous COVID-19 group were significantly more likely to experience lymphadenopathy, or swollen lymph nodes, as well as fever, fatigue, myalgia and arthralgia.
About 4 percent of participants with a COVID-19 history experienced lymphadenopathy, compared to less than 1 percent of those who weren't infected.
