COVID-19 vaccine could cause confusion in mammogram results, doctors say

Doctors are seeing several women presenting for mammograms with the same problem and this is concerning.

Patients have swollen lymph nodes, which is a rare sign of breast cancer.

“When we see this, we wake up and worry,” said Dr Lars Grimm of Duke Health.

Doctors are now learning this is due to women who recently received the COVID-19 vaccine.

The lymph nodes will be swollen on the side of the body on which the person received the injection.

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“That’s a good thing, no, because it means the vaccine is working. Your body is responding. You have this immune reaction,” Grimm said.

The side effect, however, is that these bumps will show up on a mammogram and give a false reading for breast cancer.

Grimm says women just need to do a little planning.

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Get the mammogram screening before the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine or four to six weeks after the second injection.

Grimm says the recommended schedule is the same whether you get the Moderna or Pzifer vaccine.

The last thing doctors want is for women to cancel their mammograms together, which has often happened in 2020.

“We are concerned that women will pass two years and we know that when we test regularly, we get breast cancer at the earliest possible stage. Unfortunately, breast cancer is so common, it is really important that women stay on top of these issues. keep things healthy and don’t let it slip, ”Grimm said.

Tips for managing the potential side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine

The American Cancer Society suggests that women aged 45 to 54 get screened each year. Healthy women 55 and over may switch to every two years.