Disentangling a Thorny Issue: Myocarditis and Pericarditis Post COVID-19 and Following mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

Abstract

Considering the clinical significance for myocarditis and pericarditis after immunization with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, the present pharmacovigilance study aimed to describe these events reported with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). From 1990 to July 2021, the mRNA vaccines were the most common suspected vaccines related to suspected cases of myocarditis and/or pericarditis (myocarditis: N = 1,165; 64.0%; pericarditis: N = 743; 55.1%), followed by smallpox vaccines (myocarditis: N = 222; 12.2%; pericarditis: N = 200; 14.8%). We assessed all suspected cases through the case definition and classification of the Brighton Collaboration Group, and only definitive, probable, and possible cases were included in the analysis. Our findings suggested that myocarditis and pericarditis mostly involve young male, especially after the second dose with a brief time to onset. Nevertheless, this risk is lower (0.38/100,000 vaccinated people; 95% CI 0.36–0.40) than the risk of developing myocarditis after SARS-CoV-2 infection (1000–4000 per 100,000 people) and the risk of developing “common” viral myocarditis (1–10 per 100,000 people/year). Comparing with the smallpox vaccine, for which is already well known the association with myocarditis and pericarditis, our analysis showed a lower probability of reporting myocarditis (ROR 0.12, 95% CI 0.10–0.14) and pericarditis (ROR 0.06, 95% CI 0.05–0.08) following immunization with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.