"Increase in Myocarditis Among Israeli Male Adolescents After Pfizer Vaccination: Study Results"

8.09 Cases per 100,000 People After Second Vaccination Dose

Vaccine. Not related to the article.

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The rate of heart disease among adolescents vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel has been found to have increased.

On the 26th (local time), according to The New York Times (NYT), Israeli researchers reported a slight increase in the risk of myocarditis in male adolescents aged 12 to 15 after receiving two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The study results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers investigated hospitalized patients with myocarditis through the Israeli Ministry of Health's surveillance system between June 2 and October 20 of last year. During this period, 404,407 adolescents aged 12 to 15 received the first dose, and 326,463 received the second dose.

There were a total of 18 hospitalizations due to myocarditis during this period, but 4 cases were excluded due to insufficient association with alternative diagnoses. Among the remaining 14 cases, 1 was unvaccinated, and 13 were related to vaccination. One case occurred after the first dose, and 12 cases developed within one week after the second dose.

The researchers estimated that the incidence rate of myocarditis in male adolescents was 0.56 per 100,000 after the first dose and 8.09 per 100,000 after the second dose. The risk among female adolescents in the same age group was negligible.

All symptoms were mild, and the adolescents were hospitalized for an average of 3 days. No patients were readmitted during the 30-day follow-up period.

The NYT reported, "Although myocarditis side effects from the vaccine remain rare (1 in 12,361), this is higher than the estimate by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which suggests 1 in 16,129 vaccinated adolescents aged 12 to 17 experience myocarditis."

Furthermore, while this study was based solely on the Pfizer vaccine, other studies have found that the incidence of myocarditis may be higher with Moderna, another messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine similar to Pfizer.