Durians and vaccines, not an issue

Low at his durian stall in Anson Road, Penang. – CHAN BOON KAI/The Star

THERE is no clinical report to suggest that people should avoid durians before or after taking their vaccine doses, say medical experts.

Penang Hospital infectious disease unit head Dr Chow Ting Soo explained that not all vaccines have side effect of fever.

“There is no special medical restriction on any specific food after a person has been vaccinated.

“If one can consume the food without any issue, there is no need to specifically avoid it,” she said.

Dr Chow said, however, if one developed fever, it would be good to cut the intake of durians as the fruits were known to be able to cause hyperthermia, or heatiness.

Another medical expert, who declined to be named, explained that durians are high in calories which would require a greater digestive effort.

A customer showing her vaccination record while buying durians.

“To digest the fruit, our body has to burn more calories faster and this can result in our body temperature rising. It all depends on our metabolism.

“Having said that, durians are high-fibre fruits with antioxidants which are health benefits,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Health Ministry had to debunk a fake viral message claiming that a man who had gotten his Covid-19 vaccine died after eating durians.

The ministry added that there were no reports of deaths in the country due to consuming durians following the vaccination.

Meanwhile, durian trader Low Wei Soon, 55, said that he ate durians almost daily since the start of the fruit season despite receiving his AstraZeneca vaccine recently.

“There is no concern at all about the fruit causing harm to those just receiving the vaccines.

“None of my customers who had their jabs reported any side effects after consuming durians,” said Low.

Durian orchard owner Leow Cheok Kiang, 61, who is known for his or chi (black thorn) durians, advised the public not to believe fake messages about durians and vaccines.

“Do not simply believe in all these rumours.

“This year with various restrictions, we are recording lower sales and yield compared to the previous years.

“My or chi trees are producing about 30% fewer fruits this year,” he said.