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Tag: myocarditis

  • 3 things to know about COVID-19, vaccines and kids

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    U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said COVID-19 vaccines killed at least 10 children, providing no evidence for the statement. Citing these deaths, the agency said it plans to make existing vaccine regulations more strict.

    In an email to FDA staff, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the director of the agency’s vaccine division, said ​​”at least 10 children have died after and because of receiving COVID-19 vaccination.”

    FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary made a similar statement during an appearance on “Fox and Friends Weekend.” 

    Neither Prasad nor Makary provided details or data about the 10 children they said the vaccines killed or the circumstances surrounding those deaths. The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, did not respond to our request for more information. 

    In his six-page email, Prasad mentioned myocarditis, a rare side effect of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Since researchers first documented that relationship, doctors and public health experts have assured people that vaccination’s benefits outweigh its risks. That’s partly because COVID-19 infection carries a greater risk of myocarditis than the COVID-19 vaccines. Prasad argued otherwise in the email. 

    Here are three things to know about children and COVID-19 infection, vaccines and myocarditis. 

    More than 2,000 children in the U.S. have died from COVID-19 infections 

    COVID-19 infections are less risky for healthy children compared with babies and people age 65 and older. But COVID-19 can be dangerous — and sometimes deadly — for children. 

    Babies younger than 6 months have a higher than average risk of severe infection and are one of the age groups with the highest risk of COVID-19 hospitalization, Mayo Clinic said.

    U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that since the start of the pandemic, more than 2,000 children age 18 and younger in the U.S. have died from COVID-19. Nearly 700, or about 33%, were less than 1 year old. 

    One Pediatrics study found that 68% of children ages 1 to 17 who died from COVID-19 from 2020 to 2022 had one or more other medical conditions, including nervous system disorders, congenital disorders, obesity, neurodevelopmental disorders and respiratory disorders including asthma. 

    A 2023 study found that from April 1, 2020, to Aug. 31, 2022, COVID-19 was the nation’s fifth highest disease-related cause of death for people from birth to age 19. 

    Heart inflammation is a rare adverse effect of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines

    In rare cases, people who receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines experience heart muscle inflammation, also known as myocarditis, or inflammation of the lining surrounding the heart, called pericarditis. 

    Research shows boys and men ages 12 to 30 have the highest risk of experiencing COVID-19 vaccine-related myocarditis and pericarditis. Some studies show these patients are most vulnerable within the first 14 days of the second vaccine dose, while the CDC says the risk window is seven days. 

    A 2022 Lancet study found that 81% of patients who developed vaccine-related myocarditis recovered after 90 days, although some had been prescribed daily medication related to myocarditis. 

    Kids who get vaccine-induced myocarditis have a good outlook for complete recovery, said Dr. Mark Schleiss, a University of Minnesota pediatric infectious diseases professor. “No deaths, no debilitating illnesses and no heart transplants have been observed.”

    COVID-19 infection poses a higher risk of myocarditis than vaccines

    A 2022 study found myocarditis’ risk was seven times higher for people with the COVID-19 virus compared with those who received an mRNA vaccine. 

    Doctors and public health officials repeatedly told PolitiFact during the pandemic that the risks of COVID-19 infection — including its potential to cause myocarditis — are greater than the vaccine’s risks. 

    The message remains unchanged now. “Without question, the risk of myocarditis is vastly greater after infection than after vaccination,” Schleiss said.

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  • Myocarditis After COVID Vaccine Still Rare, But Risks Remain

    Myocarditis After COVID Vaccine Still Rare, But Risks Remain

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    Nov. 22, 2022 – The overall risk of myocarditis after a COVID-19 vaccination remains rare, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

    At the same time, developing inflammation of the heart muscle appears to be more common in men ages 18-29 who receive the Moderna shot. The researchers recommended the Pfizer shot for this group.

    “Although observed rates of myocarditis were higher than expected, the benefits of the vaccine in reducing the severity of COVID-19, hospital admission, and deaths far outweigh the risk of developing myocarditis,” says Naveed Janjua, MBBS, the senior study author and executive director of data and analytic services at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.

    Still, the number of people who developed myocarditis after vaccination is “somewhere between three to six times less than what we see after COVID disease,” says C. Buddy Creech, MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program. Creech, who wasn’t involved with this study, has led COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials throughout the pandemic.

    Janjua and colleagues looked at data from the people in British Columbia who were vaccinated for COVID-19 from December 2020 to March 2022. They looked for hospital admissions or emergency department visits for myocarditis or myopericarditis (inflammation of the sac-like tissue layer that surrounds the heart) within 7-21 days after vaccination. The research team also compared the number of observed cases to the cases expected if there were no link between a COVID-19 vaccine and myocarditis.

    Overall, more than 10.2 million doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines were given to people ages 12 and older in British Columbia during that time, including nearly 7 million Pfizer doses and 3.2 million Moderna doses. Nearly 4 million were first doses, about 3.9 million were second doses, and 2.3 million were third doses.

    The researchers found 99 cases of myocarditis within 7 days after vaccination, as compared with seven expected cases. The rate of myocarditis was 0.97 cases per 100,000 vaccine doses, as compared with an expected rate of 0.23 per 100,000 population. The observed rate was about 15 times higher than expected. 

    Also, they found 141 cases within 21 days, as compared with 20 expected cases. The rate of myocarditis was 1.37 cases per 100,000 vaccine doses, as compared to an expected rate of 0.39 per 100,000 population. The observed rate was about 7 times higher than expected.

    Analyzing by age, myocarditis cases were highest among ages 12-17 and 18-29, and lowest among ages 70-79. By sex, myocarditis cases were higher for men than women. 

    “The numbers are small [for Moderna versus Pfizer], and therefore may not be entirely precise, but this has been a common theme,” Creech says. “This may be due to the slightly higher amount of antigen in the Moderna vaccine compared to Pfizer.”

    The study confirmed what other researchers are seeing in the U.S. and around the world, Creech says.

    “At the end of the day, the absolute number of myocarditis cases after vaccination are very low, though higher than we would expect. Both Pfizer and Moderna, as well as NIH, CDC, and others, have launched large-scale studies in order to understand why this is happening,” he says. 

    Finally, Creech says, the cases of myocarditis after vaccination have been mild. 

    “This should provide parents a measure of confidence as they seek to protect their families from COVID disease, including the often not mild cases of myocarditis following COVID disease,” he says.

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  • Physicians for Informed Consent Challenges the Basis for COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

    Physicians for Informed Consent Challenges the Basis for COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

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    According to Physicians for Informed Consent, new data raise serious concerns over the risks of hospitalization in people vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.

    Press Release
    –

    Nov 11, 2022 14:01 PST


    NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., November 11, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC) has released an update to its educational document “COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: 21 Scientific Facts That Challenge the Assumptions.” Developed from data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, National Library of Medicine, and other established sources, the PIC document covers issues of critical importance to both the medical community and the public. Reflecting key scientific research, the document refutes the basis for COVID-19 vaccine mandates. For example, according to Physicians for Informed Consent, studies (referenced here) show: 

    • COVID-19 vaccines may increase the risk of hospitalizations in vaccinated people.

    A study published in Vaccine found that the number of serious adverse events in people vaccinated with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is higher than the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations prevented. For every two COVID-19 hospitalizations prevented in vaccinated people, there are 10 COVID-19 vaccine serious adverse events.

    • COVID-19 vaccines increase the risk of myocarditis in young men.

    A study published in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety shows that in males aged 18 to 24 years, the risk of myocarditis is 1 in 1,862 after the second dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

    • COVID-19 vaccines increase the risk of cardiac-related deaths in men.

    A study by the Florida Department of Health found there is a 97% increased risk of cardiac-related deaths in males aged 18-39 within 28 days of being vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine.

    • COVID-19 vaccines increase the length of menstrual cycles in women.

    A study published in BMJ found that in women, vaccination with two doses within the same menstrual cycle leads to a 3.7-day increase in that cycle’s length. The consequences of this phenomenon are not known.

    It can take months or even years for new data to reach the general medical community. As such, some healthcare providers may be unaware of COVID-19 vaccine facts and figures. In providing this document, PIC highlights important statistics to help medical professionals and their patients more easily assess the risks of the vaccine compared to the risks of COVID-19. In addition, as a nonprofit organization with headquarters in California — where AB 2098, a doctor-censorship bill, was recently signed into law — PIC asserts that it is now more important than ever for the general public to be able to access science-based COVID-19 analyses. 

    “AB 2098 is immoral and anti-science,” said Dr. Shira Miller, founder and president of Physicians for Informed Consent. “PIC as an organization will continue speaking out and educating the public about COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines, and the need to have doctors whose professional opinion hasn’t been censored — because without free speech informed consent is not possible.”

    To read all 21 scientific facts in PIC’s newly released document, visit physiciansforinformedconsent.org/covid-19-vaccines. 

    Source: Physicians for Informed Consent

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