![]() Lymph nodes are part of the body’s immune system, and help filter out bacteria and viruses. That the vaccine may trigger this swelling isn’t a concern on its own. “I don’t think we’ve seen the full extent of it yet.” “We've definitely seen some additional people at the Ottawa Hospital who have had a reaction with swelling of the armpit that has been showing up on their screening mammogram and on screening MRIs as well,” Seely said. Cases of this side effect were also reported among those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but the exact percentage is unknown.Īs Canada’s vaccine rollout moves along, this could mean thousands of Canadians experiencing an unexpected swelling of their lymph nodes. They ran more tests to be sure, and by the time the patient returned for a follow-up three weeks later, the swelling had already disappeared on its own.Īccording to an advisory released in January by the Society of Breast Imaging, roughly 11 per cent of people experience this side effect after their first shot of the Moderna vaccine, with around 16 per cent experiencing it after the second shot. “So based on that, I was able to reassure her that this was very likely a side-effect of that vaccination,” she said. ![]() Seely said one of her own patients came in with swollen lymph nodes in January, worried about what the new swelling could mean.īecause of the reports Seely had heard of this being correlated with the vaccine, she asked the right questions, and found out that the patient had received the vaccine only a week prior - and her swollen lumps were in the armpit of the same arm that she’d received the shot in. “So normally, that would be a sign of cancer if we see new swelling of the lymph nodes in the armpits.” “They look the same, they're swollen and they're new from when we compare to previous tests,” Seely said. ![]() And while this side-effect is not dangerous, there’s no way for doctors to tell the difference on a mammogram between these lumps and the kind that would warrant a biopsy. In a pre-pandemic world, a new swelling in the armpit region would be extremely worrisome. of people who had received their COVID-19 vaccine, and then noticed new lumps in their armpit or collarbone area in the weeks that followed. She became aware of this side-effect after reports started emerging out of the U.S. Seely is the head of the breast imaging section at the Ottawa Hospital, and is the president of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging. Newsletter sign-up: Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox.Jean Seely told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. With breast cancer screenings already delayed across the country due to the pandemic, “it’s important for people not to panic,” Dr. As more Canadians receive COVID-19 vaccines, more and more people might encounter a side-effect that radiologists want the public to be more aware of - swelling under the armpit, which can show up on mammograms during screenings for breast cancer.ĭoctors are hoping that talking about it now will prevent people from assuming the worst if they notice a new lump in this area after receiving the vaccine.
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