Teens 14 TIMES More Likely to Have Heart Inflammation After COVID Vaccine Than Girls

Teenagers are much more likely to suffer from a rare form of heart inflammation after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine than girls, according to a new study.

Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital studied a small group of patients under the age of 19 with myocarditis after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Of the 15 patients in the study, 14 were boys.

The researchers found that none of the patients died or even needed intensive care. All were discharged from the hospital within five days and most recovered from the inflammation of the heart within two weeks.

While inflammation after vaccination is a much lower risk for adolescents than actually getting a Covid infection, researchers say longer-term follow-up is needed for patients who suffer from the disease.

In May 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 15.

In the months that followed, doctors identified a rare side effect of this vaccine – and Moderna’s vaccine – for adolescents.

Adolescents who get the vaccine are at risk for myocarditis, a condition in which the patient’s heart is inflamed, which causes chest pain and other related symptoms.

Approximately 1,200 cases of myocarditis have been identified to date in adolescents who have received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The risk is much higher for adolescents than for girls. For boys aged 12 to 17, about 63 cases of myocarditis have been identified for every million vaccinated.

A new study from Boston Children’s Hospital reinforces this higher risk for boys – while also showing that myocarditis after vaccination is unlikely to lead to serious illness or death.

For the study, published Tuesday in JAMA Cardiology, the team looked at children under 19 hospitalized with myocarditis after receiving the Pfizer vaccine. between May 1, 2021 and July 15, 2021.

Of these 15 patients, 14 were boys, suggesting that boys are at a much higher risk than girls of having heart inflammation after vaccination.

Almost all of the patients (14 of 15) experienced this side effect after their second dose.

Patients’ symptoms started between one and six days after being vaccinated.

All 15 patients experienced chest pain. It started a few days after the vaccination and lasted between one and nine days.

Other common symptoms included fever (in 10 patients), muscle pain (in 8 patients) and headache (in 6 patients).

Although heart inflammation is a serious side effect of the vaccine, it does not appear to pose a serious long-term danger to patients, the doctors found.

None of the patients required intensive care and all were discharged from the hospital within five days. The median length of hospital stay was only two days.

Within two weeks, the majority of patients – 11 out of 15 – no longer had symptoms of inflammation. The other four patients presented with fatigue and persistent chest pain.

These reduced symptoms correspond to the actions doctors have taken on patients’ hearts.

Troponin, a protein that doctors use to detect heart damage, was high in all patients upon arrival at the hospital – but was approaching normal levels upon discharge.

Likewise, readings from the patients’ left ventricles suggest that adolescent hearts returned to normal after a few days of symptoms.

Doctors noted that this pattern was distinct from other forms of heart inflammation caused by severe heart disease. In these cases, patients are more likely to require intensive care and have a higher risk of dying.

Overall, this study suggests that post-vaccine inflammation – although it is a serious side effect for teens – has a much lower risk than getting Covid.

Pediatricians are now encouraging adolescent vaccinations, especially as more children and adolescents are hospitalized with Covid during the wave of India’s ‘Delta’ variants.

Still, the researchers say more study is needed on this side effect in order to identify any potential long-term impact.