Fact Check: Is There a Connection Between COVID Vaccines and Hepatitis C?

A viral tweet makes a false claim.

By Khaya Himmelman

Apr 18, 2022

In a viral tweet from last week, Dr. Peter McCullough, a Texas cardiologist and frequent purveyor of COVID-19 misinformation, claimed that there is a connection between the COVID-19 vaccine and hepatitis C:

Lensen et al, more bad news. Fatal hepatitis C reactivation after genetic injection. Serious viral reactivation syndromes suggest reverse transcription. The hepatic cell line is cohesive with the Malmo LINE-1 RT discovery; hepatitis C reactivation fits as diagnostic syndrome. pic.twitter.com/NMI6BTiI0O
— Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH™ (@P_McCulloughMD) April 12, 2022

McCullough’s claim leaves out the context that the study he cites is based on one patient. The study, which can be read here, acknowledges that it “cannot exclude a coincidental occurrence” of hepatitis C. And his claim that “reactivation syndromes suggest reverse transcription” is false.

The study examines “a case of a 82-year old patient with dementia who was admitted to a nursing home in the Netherlands. After vaccination with COVID-19 vaccination, physical examinations and lab tests were performed.” The results, per the study, indicated that the patient “had a reactivation of hepatitis C infection” after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

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