Women who get COVID-19 vaccine should delay their regular mammogram, Utah doctor says

Health experts nationwide, including a prominent Utah doctor, are warning women who get the COVID-19 vaccine to wait at least a month before getting a routine mammogram — because of a side effect of the vaccine that mimics a condition often seen in cancer diagnoses.

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Parkinson said the center’s doctors, as well as physicians across the nation, have noticed that some people who get the COVID-19 vaccine have had the side effect of swollen lymph nodes in the axilla, or the armpit area. In itself, such swelling isn’t serious, and it usually subsides within four weeks.

“Their body is mounting an immune response, and that’s a good thing,” Parkinson said.

However, when such swelling in the lymph nodes in the armpit shows up during a routine mammogram, Parkinson said, a doctor likely would call a patient back in for a more detailed examination. Such swelling, he said, can be a sign of metastatic breast cancer — a cancer that has spread beyond the breast — or lymphoma or leukemia.

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The side effect shows up in 11% of patients after the first dose of the Moderna version of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 16% of the time after the second dose, Parkinson said. He added that experts expect similar findings with patients who get the Pfizer version.

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https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/02/09/women-who-get-covid/