Should the COVID-19 vaccine plan be put on hold in case of rare heart inflammation?
The potential association between some COVID-19 vaccines and heart inflammation requires close scrutiny, but there is no reason for parents or teenage children to avoid vaccination. This is what researchers say after several reports of inflammation in recently vaccinated teens and adults. Dr. James Delemos, a professor of medicine at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said such cases seem to be rare. They do not change the overall dynamics, he said, and people should be vaccinated. As of June 14, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration confirmed 323 cases of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, or pericarditis, or inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart in people under the age of 30. Did. I received either a Pfizer or a Moderna vaccine. This is one of the more than 310 million doses given in the United States. The CDC Vaccination Implementation Advisory Board, which advises authorities on vaccine use, plans to review and discuss inflammatory data as part of a three-day meeting starting Wednesday. On May 24, the CDCs COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Group noted that more than expected reports of myocarditis and pericarditis aged 16 to 24 years were vaccinated. A preliminary case study was then conducted in the journal Pediatrics, investigating seven teenage boys who developed similar cases after vaccination. Pfizers vaccine received an urgent permit for use at ages 12-17 on May 10, and Moderna is waiting for a vaccine permit for that age group. Dr. Pei-NiJone, a pediatric cardiologist at the Colorado Childrens Hospital at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, said her facility treated nine patients (all teens or young adults) with similar symptoms. Said. First, after the second vaccination, they reported common side effects such as fatigue and muscle aches. And two days later, they feel chest pain.  In such cases, they are treated with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. The good news is that all these kids have recovered, Joan said. Although advised to limit activity for 3-6 months, so far doctors have not seen any permanent problems. Two studies published last week in the American Heart Associations Journal Circulation found similar problems in 15 adult men-and similar favorable results, deLemos said. The men reported chest pain 2-4 days after receiving the second vaccination. This is a rare phenomenon, said de Lemos, co-author of a third Circulation treatise that scrutinized the case of a 52-year-old man. He said the problem seemed to occur most often in young men. Most of them were less ill, did not require ICU care, and after spending only a few days in the hospital, everything recovered clinically, he said. They all worked.  Other vaccines, such as smallpox, also show myocarditis, but the exact relationship is unclear, deLemos said. Case reports provide clues that the answer is probably in the bodys immune response. Both de Lemos and Jone said patients with myocarditis need to be monitored for possible long-term problems. But for parents and patients who are worried about making the healthiest choices for their children and themselves, doctors have agreed that vaccination is the right decision. When talking about immunity to healthy people, its a question of whether to vaccinate or seize the opportunity with COVID, which is the greater risk, said De Lemos. Data on clear post-COVID-19 myocarditis are still available, but CDC figures by late May show 16 cases of myocarditis per million seconds in people aged 16-39 years. Or it is estimated that pericarditis will be reported. 0.0016%, or about 1 / 62,000. In contrast, de Lemos states that the best studies of college athletes show that young people have a 1% to 3% chance of developing myocarditis after COVID-19. This is about 1/50. Therefore, the risk of myocarditis in young people is much higher with COVID than with vaccination, Delemos said. According to the CDC, the vaccine has other COVID-19 such as heart damage, lung damage, a condition called pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, which killed 36 children as of early June. It also protects against related issues. COVID or MIS-C vaccination is much worse than vaccinated myocarditis / pericarditis, Joan said. She said that if a patient is vaccinated and has chest pain 2-4 days later, it should be evaluated in the emergency room. De Lemos said adults with existing heart disease should not be discouraged from vaccination. The details of the vaccine and myocarditis are still under development, but the message that qualified people should be vaccinated is still echoing. There is no tsunami waiting to come, said De Lemos. In my opinion, thats not something people should be afraid of, because the risk is low and the benefits of vaccination are overwhelming.  Editors Note: Due to the rapid evolution of the events surrounding the coronavirus, the facts and advice presented in this article may have changed since its publication. Visit Heart.org for the latest coverage and check with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities for the latest guidance. If you have any questions or comments about this story, please email [email protected]  Copyrighted by American Heart Association, Inc. Owned or owned by, and all rights reserved. Free permission to link, quote, excerpt, or reprint these stories in any media for personal, media outlet, and non-profit educational and awareness efforts, unless the text has been modified. Granted without the need for additional requests. 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