I had my first Shingrix injection 12/30/2019. About 4 weeks later I lost my hearing in one ear. I went through a bunch of MRI, CT and other tests but no cause could be determined. The ENT said that cases like this are usually caused by a virus that attacks the nerve in the ear, but that's just their guess.
I got back some very low frequency hearing after taking steroids. I'm about 95% deaf in that ear though. I wasn't sick during that time with anything, and the only thing out of the ordinary was the Shingrix and a plane flight.
I had read about the older Shingles vaccine causing hearing loss, but your case is the first I've heard of it with Shingrix though I suspect that's what did it to me.
I'm sorry that you, too, experienced hearing loss following the Shingrix vaccine, and that unlike me, most of your hearing hasn't returned. I'm curious how much time elapsed between when you lost your hearing and when you began taking steroids? Did you get the 2nd Shingrix shot? I was fortunate that I was able to see an ENT within hours of losing the hearing in one ear, and he immediately prescribed an oral steroid. Fortunately, my hearing returned within days, but the tinnitus seems to be permanent. I did not get the 2nd shot. I was taken aback by the reaction of a few folks on this forum. I understand that shingles can be pretty awful, but so is deafness. There is no way I was going to risk my hearing by getting the 2nd dose. About 1 in 3 people get shingles in their lifetime. GSK has said that a single dose of Shingrix is 85% effective. My own doctor knew that, and when I told her of my ordeal, she immediately told me not to get the 2nd Shingrix shot.
The CDC maintains the VAERS database ("
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System"). Yes, it is possible to view data, as long as someone bothered to report the events. Doctors, patients, pharmacists, and vaccine makers can all report adverse events. I reported mine when my ENT told me he would not.
https://wonder.cdc.gov/VAERS.html
Anyone can do searches on the data, something I have done many times. The search tool is a little bit clunky but once you understand how to use it, you can quickly view the data. There was a mistake in the VAERS reporting tool that I got the CDC to fix. When I was attempting to report my own adverse event, I couldn't find the Shingrix vaccine in the lengthy list of vaccines. It turned out it was in a drop-down list of "Live shingles vaccines". However, Shingrix isn't a live vaccine. (Zostovax is.) I reported it and they quickly took it out of that heading and listed it separately. BTW, Zostovax is no longer available in the USA and there are many lawsuits pending against its maker, Merck, due to adverse events, including getting shingles as well as deafness. I had the Zostovax vaccine myself about 5 years ago with no apparent ill effects.
When I do searches in the VAERS database, I select for "Deafness", "Deafness Bilateral", and "Deafness Unilateral". (Hold down the ctrl button to select multiple symptoms.) I typically group results by "Symptoms", "Vaccine", and "VAERS ID". Under "Optional Measures", you can check a box if you want to read the "Adverse Event Description". There are many which sound remarkably similar to mine, with hearing being affected within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine. BTW, the timing is why my own doctor, 2 close friends who are doctors, as well as myself, all think my deafness was directly related to Shingrix. But there are other event descriptions with symptoms beginning weeks after receiving the vaccine, like yourself. You can also designate a time range for either the date the event was reported, the date the event happened, or the date the vaccine was given. Remember that Shingrix wasn't even approved until Oct. 2017, and I don't think became available until early 2018. And Zostovax ceased being available about a month ago.
They update the data in VAERS more or less monthly. At this time, there is data through this past October. The numbers vary depending on the search criteria selected. If I do a search for all 3 types of deafness I mentioned above, for events reported from April 2019 (when I got the CDC to fix where they put Shingrix in the reporting list) and the latest data (Oct. 2020), for ALL vaccines given in the USA, there were 193 total reported cases of deafness in the VAERS database. However 66% of these deafness cases were following either the Shingrix vaccine (55 cases) or Zostovac vaccine (73 cases). Given that these 2 vaccines represent a tiny fraction of all vaccines given in the USA, I find these numbers compelling.
Felt better 24 hrs after the dose and 1 ibuprofen. The only significant vaccine reaction I've ever had but I don't regret taking it at all.
