Covid-19 Increases Risk of Myocarditis Much More Than Vaccination, Study Finds

First modification: 31/08/2021 – 22:08

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Washington (AFP)

The risk of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, increases for patients with COVID-19, according to a US study released Tuesday, which argues strongly in favor of vaccination.

In fact, the risk of developing myocarditis after injection of the Pfizer and Moderna conticovid vaccines has been reported, especially in boys and young men.

But that risk is high after infection with the disease itself, according to this new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which analyzed data from visits to more than 900 hospitals.

“Myocarditis remains rare in patients, with or without COVID-19,” says the CDC report. “However, covid-19 is a strong and important risk factor for myocarditis, and that risk varies with age.”

Covid-19 patients screened between March 2020 and January 2021 were on average nearly 16 times more likely to develop myocarditis than those who did not contract the virus, according to this study.

This risk was most pronounced in people younger than 16, as well as in people older than 50. In children, some identified cases of myocarditis may correspond to a pediatric multisystemic inflammatory syndrome (PIMS or MIS-C), the study notes.

In 2020, the number of myocarditis consultations in the analyzed hospitals was 42% higher than in 2019; the peaks correspond to the number of covid-19 cases.

Furthermore, among people with covid-19 and myocarditis, the vast majority were diagnosed with both diseases in the same month.

The exact mechanism that may be at the origin of this link is “unknown,” according to the CDC.

The study does not directly provide a comparison of the risk of myocarditis after vaccination.

However, the CDC report cites an Israeli study published last week in the scientific journal NEJM, according to which the risk of developing myocarditis after inoculation with a messenger RNA vaccine (Pfizer’s) was multiplied by 3.

But according to this study, the risk of myocarditis associated with a coronavirus infection was multiplied by 18, much more than after a vaccine, so the risk-benefit balance clearly favors inoculation.

© 2021 AFP

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