The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered life for the past few years. In order to protect ourselves against the virus, the world’s top health agencies have advised individuals to vaccinate themselves. However, there exists significant debate on whether the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines cause myocarditis; a cardiovascular condition resulting in the inflammation of the heart, and perhaps even cardiac death. Many are hesitant or unsure about getting vaccinated. Perhaps you’re one of these people.

In this video, we’ll examine this claim more in-depth, and explore what myocarditis is, its possible associations with the COVID-19 vaccine from medical literature, and answer the question on whether you should still get vaccinated.

This video was made by McMaster University students Aqeel Mansuri, Lael Mattam, Hadi Khan, and Hadia Malik in collaboration with the Demystifying Research McMaster Program.

Please note that this video was made solely for educational purposes. Please consult a healthcare professional for information about your health.

We would like to thank Dr. Takuma Isshiki for reviewing the content of this video and providing valuable feedback.

#covid #vaccine #covid-19 #myocarditis #heart #pfizer #moderna

References:

Bozkurt, B., Kamat, I., & Hotez, P. J. (2021). Myocarditis with covid-19 mrna vaccines. Circulation, 144(6), 471–484. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAH...

Gao, J., Feng, L., Li, Y., Lowe, S., Guo, Z., Bentley, R., Xie, C., Wu, B., Xie, P., Xia, W., Ma, S., Liu, H., Guo, X., Uy, J. P. N., Zhou, Q., Wazir, H., & Sun, C. (2023). A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Association Between SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination and Myocarditis or Pericarditis. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 64(2), 275–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022...

Gilotra, N. (2021, August 8). Myocarditis. John Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healt...

Heymans, S., & Cooper, L. T. (2022). Myocarditis after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination: Clinical observations and potential mechanisms. Nature Reviews Cardiology, 19(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-021-00...

Husby, A., & Køber, L. (2022). COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and myocarditis or pericarditis. The Lancet, 399(10342), 2168–2169. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22...

Le Vu, S., Bertrand, M., Jabagi, M.-J., Botton, J., Drouin, J., Baricault, B., Weill, A., Dray-Spira, R., & Zureik, M. (2022). Age and sex-specific risks of myocarditis and pericarditis following Covid-19 messenger RNA vaccines. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31...

Naveed, Z., Li, J., Spencer, M., Wilton, J., Naus, M., García, H. A. V., Otterstatter, M., & Janjua, N. Z. (2022). Observed versus expected rates of myocarditis after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination: A population-based cohort study. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 194(45), E1529–E1536. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.220676

Oster, M. E., Shay, D. K., Su, J. R., Gee, J., Creech, C. B., Broder, K. R., Edwards, K., Soslow, J. H., Dendy, J. M., Schlaudecker, E., Lang, S. M., Barnett, E. D., Ruberg, F. L., Smith, M. J., Campbell, M. J., Lopes, R. D., Sperling, L. S., Baumblatt, J. A., Thompson, D. L., … Shimabukuro, T. T. (2022). Myocarditis cases reported after mrna-based covid-19 vaccination in the us from december 2020 to august 2021. JAMA, 327(4), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.24110

Voleti, N., Reddy, S. P., & Ssentongo, P. (2022). Myocarditis in SARS-CoV-2 infection vs. COVID-19 vaccination: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 9, 951314. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2022.951314