◆A paper by the research team led by Specially Appointed Professor Eiki Sano has been published in *The Journal of Dermatology*

Release Date:April 10, 2024

　Findings suggest that spike proteins derived from mRNA vaccines may be associated with long-term skin disorders

　A paper by a research team led by Eiki Sano, Specially Appointed Professor in the Department of Dermatology at Kochi University School of Medicine, has been published in the English-language international journal *The Journal of Dermatology* (published by Wiley and the Japanese Society of Dermatology).

　Reports indicate that various skin disorders have developed following administration of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, which were introduced in Japan in 2021.

　Our research team encountered a case in which a patient developed systemic fatigue and fever, along with skin symptoms, immediately following the third dose of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer’s BNT162b), and these symptoms have persisted for more than two years to date. The patient presented to the clinic with recurrent small blisters on the limbs as the primary complaint.

　Based on the pathological findings of small vesicles, with dilated epidermal sweat ducts containing accumulated sweat, the condition was diagnosed as heat rash. Surprisingly, immunohistochemical staining revealed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (*) in the eccrine sweat glands, epidermal sweat ducts, and areas believed to contain accumulated sweat. Since the patient had no history of COVID-19 infection, this is likely attributable to an mRNA vaccine.

　These findings suggest that the spike protein derived from the mRNA vaccine may be involved in the recurrence of "heat rash" that persists for more than two years following multiple doses of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. However, the mechanism by which this spike protein persists over the long term remains unclear.