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Man's skin 'peeled off' from reaction to Johnson & Johnson shot
Virginia man's 'skin peeled off' in a rare reaction to Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, doctors claim
Richard Terrell, 74, got a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on March 6
Four days later, he developed itching under his arm that soon became a rash over his whole body
His legs, hands and arms swelled beyond recognition and his skin turned scarlet red, cracked and 'peeled off'
On March 19 he went to a dermatologist who sent him to the ER
Doctors ruled his symptoms a rare reaction to J&J's shot and he spent five days in the hospital
A report was submitted to the CDC, but Terrell and his doctors say the vaccine is still worth the reaction
A 74-year-old Virginia man broke out into a scarlet red rash after getting Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
What began as a slight 'discomfort' under Richard Terrell's arm four days after his vaccination quickly escalated into an itchy, swollen flush covering most of his body.
'It all happened so fast. My skin peeled off,' Terrell told WRIC.
By March 19, he sought a dermatologist's help, and the doctor sent him to an emergency room.
His doctors at the ER ultimately ruled that Terrell's scary skin condition was indeed an extremely rare side effect of the vaccine, caused by the frenzied activation of his immune system.
Terrell's reaction was reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and, after five days in the hospital, he recovered and was able to go home.
Despite the harrowing reaction, Terrell does not regret his vaccination and encourages everyone to get theirs.
Terrell's reaction was not unlike the 'Covid arm' rash seen in some recipients of Moderna's vaccine.
But the splotch is typically a harmless response from the immune system to the shot that fades within a week.
The official term used by dermatologists and allergists to describe the side effect is 'delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity.'
Cutaneous means affecting the skin, hypersensitivity mean an unwanted reaction produced by the immune system and delayed because it typically occurs days after the shot is given.
The rash is typically red and swollen, and sometime painful to the touch, and always appears on the arm in which the vaccine was administered.
Such reactions have also been found in people who've received tetanus vaccines, the chickenpox vaccine and the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.
But Terrell's reaction went beyond mild, passing irritation.
His legs and hands swelled grotesquely and turned a deep, painful purple.
'It was stinging, burning and itching,' Terrell told WRIC.
'Whenever I bent my arms or legs, like the inside of my knee, it was very painful where the skin was swollen and was rubbing against itself.'
Even Terrell's back broke out red splotches
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