The US Centers for Disease Control and prevention have confirmed that myocarditis and pericarditis can occur after mRNA vaccination in young people. But the cases are rare. Medical experts still recommend the shots.
You are much more likely to get a heart inflammation through COVID-19 than through the vaccine against the diseaseImage: Imago
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Since the end of April, we've known that cases of heart muscle inflammation (myocarditis) can also occur in young and athletic people after COVID-19 vaccinations with mRNA vaccines. Health authorities in Israel were the first to report this. By that stage, they were already well advanced in their vaccination campaign and also had extensive patient data.
Now, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also report that there have been more than 1,000 cases of myocarditis and pericarditis (an inflammation of the outer lining of the heart) in the United States since April following mRNA vaccination against COVID-19. The CDC treat these cases as vaccine side effects. They occurred in people who had received vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. The cases are very rare: About 13 in a million.
Most of those affected were adolescents and young adults over the age of 16. And the cases typically occurred within a few days of the second vaccination. The CDC statement said "most patients who received care responded well to treatment and rest and quickly felt better."
Inflammation usually follows infection
Inflammation of the heart muscle or pericardium does not just occur as a vaccination side effect. It can affect healthy and athletic people and, in some cases, can even be life-threatening.
This danger is particularly great if, for example, endurance athletes do not recognize an infection or do not take it seriously and continue to exercise when their bodies require rest.
A memorial for COVID-19 victims in Brazil. Doctors say getting vaccinated is still the best protection we have.Image: Eraldo Peres/dpa/AP/picture alliance
The most common triggers are viruses, especially cold viruses (adenoviruses and coxsackie viruses), herpes viruses or flu viruses. SARS-CoV-2 also frequently causes the two forms of cardiac inflammation. Usually, the inflammation is a result of the body's immune response to the virus.
Consequently, autoimmune diseases can also trigger such inflammation, as can drugs, environmental toxins such as heavy metals or radioactive substances, or injuries. Fungal infections also pose a risk, especially for people taking immunosuppressive drugs.
What symptoms should I look out for?
After a vaccination, anyone who feels chest pain, is short of breath or feels that their heart or pulse is beating particularly fast, fluttering or pounding, should see a doctor. These symptoms are a warning signal, especially during the first week after vaccination.
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Should I still have myself or my child vaccinated?
People are many times more likely to suffer a serious heart infection after a COVID-19 illness than after a COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, in the cases reported from the US, the heart infections usually healed after the vaccinations.
In this respect, the CDC continue to recommend the COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 12 years of age and older. It's also important to get the second shot to have full vaccine protection, the agency says.
The German Standing Committee on Vaccination (StIKo) has not yet made a general recommendation for children and adolescents, even though the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine has already been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for people 12 years and older. Parents are therefore free to have their children vaccinated after consulting their doctor.
In any case, parents of children or young adults with certain pre-existing conditions should speak to a doctor before vaccination.
The heart - a beating technical marvel
Last Tuesday was World Heart Day! DW takes a closer look at that amazing organ. Over the course of an average lifespan, the heart beats about three billion times. Simply incredible.
Image: Fotolia/Dmytro Tolokonov
More love for your heart
An international study found many of us believe only older people are at risk of heart attacks - and as a result, that only older people have to be careful. But the German Heart Foundation says that's not true. The earlier you start looking after your heart - through an active lifestyle and healthy diet - the better. After all, you've only got one heart!
Image: Fotolia/Jacek Chabraszewski
Nifty little pump
The heart is a marvel of technology. The fist-sized, hollow muscle contracts about 70 times per minute, pumping up to 10,000 liters of blood through the body. And it does that your whole life. If necessary, the heart can pump about five times that much blood - for instance, when we are jogging.
Image: Fotolia
Real muscle work
The heart may be "just" a muscle - but it's a very special one. Like the muscles in your legs and arms, it can contract as fast and with as much power. But the heart has incredible stamina, and never gets tired. What's more, all heart muscle cells are linked, so they contract in unison.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Life saver
If a heart beats slower than it should, a patient can be fitted with a pacemaker. First implanted in 1958, the device sends electrical impulses to the heart muscle. These days, pacemakers can function for from five to 12 years - on average, about eight.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Open-heart surgery
To operate on a heart, surgeons have to stop it temporarily. This halts the circulation of blood - which would technically be fatal. But in the 1950s, scientists were able to solve this problem by developing the heart-lung machine. That machine takes over the function of the heart and lungs, enriching the blood with oxygen and pumping it through the body.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The heart via the groin
Modern medicine allows doctors to examine and perform surgery on the heart without cutting open the patient's ribcage. Instead, an intracardiac catheter - more or less a thin plastic tube - is inserted through veins and arteries in the groin, the elbow or the wrist. This tube is then pushed into the heart, requiring only local anesthesia.
Image: picture-alliance/Andreas Gebert
Foldable heart valve
If a heart valve is not working or worn out, you need a new one. Doctors might use a biological replacement from pigs, and mechanical heart valves made from metal are also an alternative. Modern artificial heart valves are foldable (pictured above) and can be inserted in endoscopic surgery via a catheter. This way, no open-heart operation is needed.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Putting heart into it
The first heart transplantation took place in 1967 - quite a sensation, back then. Nowadays, this operation is no longer a rarity. Every year, surgeons around the world transplant several thousand donor hearts from people who have died. The patients who receive a donor heart, however, have to take medication for the rest of their lives to prevent their own body from rejecting the foreign organ.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A pump inside
Donor hearts are rare, and there are waiting lists for recipients. If a heart is not working properly anymore, an artificial heart may support it. In that case, the sick heart stays in the body, and is supported by an implanted pump. This pump is powered by an external energy supply.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Plastic heart
One research dream is to create an artifical heart that can replace the sick patient's heart completely. It would be inserted into the body, not require any external connection and would beat for many years without failure. Not an easy task - although some prototypes already exist.
