Age: 24.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Cellulitis, Skin infection
Clinical narrative: After receiving both COVID vaccine doses, I have had two episodes of skin infections/cellulitis as diagnosed by a physician. This is atypical for me, and I don't think I've ever had two infections in such quick succession before. I can't say with any certainty that this is related to the vaccine but VSAFE asked so I answered.  The reported date 06/15/21 refers to the first of the two skin infections. At some point prior I had stepped on what I believe to be a small piece of broken glass, which I was unable to locate to remove. I began to develop a painful reddish spot on the side of my heel which did not improve on its own. After going to work the next day and standing on the foot for most of the day, the pain had increased significantly and I realized I probably developed an infection. The morning of 06/17/2021 I went the urgent care clinic at the  Medical Center. A physician there evaluated my pain level and the appearance of the site (red patch approx 2 inches long along outer side of right heel), and determined I had developed cellulitis. I received a prescription for a 7-day course of antibiotics, including Doxycycline Monohydrate 200mg twice a day and Cephalexin 500mg four times a day. I was also prescribed a topical ointment Mupirocin 2% which I applied twice a day. My symptoms began to improve within 2 days of starting the antibiotics, and I fully recovered after completing treatment as instructed.  The second skin infection occurred in August. On 07/26/2021 I underwent an outpatient laparoscopic surgical procedure, under general anesthesia, which required 3 incisions along my abdomen (one on each side and one in the navel). Due to my adhesive allergy, steristrips were not used to close my incisions as is typical for the procedure. Instead, all three incisions were closed with absorbable sutures and dressed with Tegaderm. I was prescribed Oxycodone 5mg and Ibuprofen 600mg for pain and Zofran 4mg for nausea which I took as instructed, and was told I could remove the Tegaderm dressings after about 24 hours. For the most part I was healing normally and my incisions were closing as expected, but around 08/09/2021 I noticed the incision site on my left side was becoming more painful and was developing some redness around the edge. The pain was localized to the incision and did not extend internally. The incision also appeared to be developing a very small amount of pus just under the skin. The other two incisions were still healing normally, though the right side was slightly irritated due to friction from clothing. On 08/11/2021 I left work early to go to the urgent care clinic at Medical Offices. The physician determined I had developed cellulitis at the incision site and prescribed me with another course of antibiotics, this time only Cephalexin 500mg, three times a day for 10 days. The infection cleared with treatment and the incision has since finished closing and healing as expected, though the scar is larger than normal. The incision on the right side also became more irritated and may have started becoming infected, but it cleared and healed on its own without additional treatment.  Again, it is incredibly unlikely that these incidents are related to my vaccine history but in the interest of thoroughness I'm submitting this report anyways.