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SALT LAKE CITY – Doctors at Intermountain Healthcare announced new mammography guidelines on Tuesday in response to a surprising new side effect from the COVID-19 vaccine.
They say women who have recently received a COVID-19 vaccine may have to postpone their annual mammograms.
“When you get a vaccination, there is an inflammatory response in the arm,” said Dr. Brett Parkinson, medical director of the Intermountain Healthcare Breast Care Center.
READ: Women in Utah urged not to postpone mammograms during pandemic
In the past four weeks, doctors have seen swollen lymph nodes during screening mammograms of recently vaccinated women.
“Every time we see them on a normal screening mammogram, we call those patients back because it can mean either metastatic breast cancer that travels to the lymph nodes, or lymphoma or leukemia.”
Although inflammation is the body’s normal response to a vaccine, Dr Parkinson says it’s surprising how many swollen lymph nodes they’ve seen.
“With the Moderna vaccine, it’s about 11% after the first dose and 16% after the second dose. We believe it is also comparable for the Pfizer vaccine. “
In response, Intermountain has rolled out new guidelines in accordance with the Society of Breast Imaging.
Women should have their mammograms before their first dose of the vaccine or wait four weeks after their second dose of the vaccine.
“We don’t want these patients to get a false positive for having this kind of alarm,” Parkinson said.
If there are any worrying symptoms, such as a suspicious lump, Dr. Parkinson says don’t delay having a mammogram.
READ: Early detection is key in the fight against breast cancer
“Breast cancer kills women between 40 and 50,000 women a year. Many of these deaths are unnecessary, ”Parkinson said. “I know that screening mammograms are the only test that has been shown in the past 30 to 40 years to reduce the death rate from breast cancer.”
If you get the chance to get the shot, Dr Parkinson urges you to get it because appointments are limited. He adds that postponing a mammogram for a month or two won’t have as much of an impact.
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