Overall Risk of Myopericarditis Low After COVID-19 Vaccine

TUESDAY, April 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Myopericarditis is rare following COVID-19 vaccination, with an overall incidence not differing significantly for those receiving COVID-19 vaccines or non-COVID-19 vaccines, according to a review published online April 11 in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Ryan Ruiyang Ling, from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in Singapore, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the incidence of myocarditis following vaccination. Data were included from 22 studies, with 405,272,721 vaccine doses.

The researchers found that the overall incidence of myopericarditis was 33.3 per million vaccine doses, with no significant difference seen for people who received COVID-19 vaccines and those who received non-COVID-19 vaccines (18.2 versus 56.0). The incidence of myopericarditis was significantly higher following smallpox vaccinations (132.1) compared with COVID-19 vaccination, but was not significantly different after influenza versus COVID-19 vaccination (1.3) or in studies reporting on other non-smallpox vaccinations (57.0). For those receiving COVID-19 vaccines, significantly higher incidence of myopericarditis was seen for males versus females, those aged <30 versus ≥30 years, after a receiving an mRNA versus a non-mRNA vaccine, and after a second versus first or third dose.

"The overall risk of myopericarditis appears to be no different for this newly approved group of vaccines against COVID-19, compared to vaccines against other diseases," a coauthor said in a statement. "The risk of such rare events should be balanced against the risk of myopericarditis from infection and these findings should bolster public confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccinations."

One author disclosed financial ties to Baxter.

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