A new side effect after vaccination affects young people

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is meeting next week to discuss rare reports of myocarditis occurring in people after vaccination with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. In Canada, two mRNA vaccines are currently approved: Pfizer and Moderna.

Myocarditis is a condition that causes inflammation of the heart muscle. It usually develops as a result of a viral infection and can cause symptoms such as fatigue, fever, and chest pain. Doctors are currently investigating rare cases that have occurred after the mRNA vaccine. Usually this side effect occurs after the second vaccination.

"People are experiencing increased shortness of breath or feeling like they can't breathe properly and very severe chest pain," said Dr. Martha Fulford, an infectious disease specialist in Hamilton, Ontario.

There have been two cases of myocarditis in Fulford's practice. She stressed that they are very rare but still need to be investigated.

The cause-and-effect relationship between myocarditis and vaccination has not yet been established. Most reported cases of myocarditis have been mild in patients, but some have still been serious.

For example, 18-year-old Isaiah Harris from the United States received a second mRNA vaccine in April. The type of vaccine was not reported. After the first vaccination, he had no side effects, but within 12 hours of the second vaccination, Harris felt sick, had a fever, and developed severe chest pain.

"For 48 hours it felt like my heart was just ripping out of my chest, it really hurt," Isaiah shared with reporters. — Honestly, it was the worst pain I've ever experienced."

Doctors diagnosed the teenager with myocarditis and reported that only 40% of his heart was working normally and there was fluid in one lung. He spent four days in the hospital. Now Harris is meeting with specialists who are investigating a possible link between the disease and vaccination, and is undergoing further tests.

The first reports of myocarditis following vaccination started coming out of Israel at the end of April. Between December 2020 and May 2021, 275 cases were detected in the country, mostly among young men. During the same period, more than 5 million people were vaccinated.

Myocarditis has also been reported in Italy and the USA. The disease usually appears within a few days after the second dose of vaccine. On June 10, the US released a report reporting nearly 800 reported reports of myocarditis after vaccination. 75% are in male patients and 50% in people 12 to 24 years old.

Similar cases have also been reported in Canada. As of June 4, the Department of Health had received 35 reports of myocarditis. And yesterday, June 17, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization updated its vaccine guidelines to recommend that mRNA vaccines, which have been linked to cases of myocarditis, be used as a second dose. Canada's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr Teresa Tam, has assured that the committee is monitoring the situation closely, but so far no link between the disease and vaccination has been proven.

So far in Canada, 65% of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. The country has already taken over Israel, the former immunization leader, in the number of vaccinations. Tam also noted that cases of myocarditis are so rare that it is difficult to estimate the exact risk.

Myocarditis also occurs in older people, but less frequently. Shirley Graves, 69, from Ontario, used to work as an emergency room nurse. She was vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine in March and had a fever for a day, which is common after a vaccination. But then the fever was joined by chest pain, increased sweating and incontinence. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with myocarditis. Graves is sure it was related to the vaccine. Since that incident, she still occasionally feels bouts of chest pain, weakness and mild dizziness. But as a medical professional, she believes vaccination is important to protect the public from COVID-19. She plans to get a second vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the future.

Dr. Peter Liu of the Ottawa Heart Institute is part of a group that studies myocarditis. He notes that vaccination is still a priority, especially given the spread of more dangerous variants of the virus. That said, physicians agree that the medical community needs to be more aware of possible problems after vaccinations.

Previously, there have been reports of frequent thrombosis following vaccination with AstraZeneca. Because of this, the immunization committee has repeatedly revised the age threshold for use of the vaccine, and some provinces have rejected it.