A new study has found that the two major COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States are more likely to land teenage boys in the hospital than COVID-19 itself.
Researchers analyzing reports submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Information System (VAERS), a passive information system administered by U.S. health authorities, found that the rate of cardiac adverse events for men between the ages of 12 and 15 without suffering from a serious underlying disease after suffering their second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Modern COVID-19 was up to 6 times higher than their risk of hospitalization for COVID-19.
Children 16 or 17 years of age without medical comorbidities were also more likely to suffer a serious side effect after the second dose of vaccines, which is based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, as opposed to COVID-19 infection. disease caused by the PCC. Virus (Chinese Communist Party).
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are by far the most widely used COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. Pfizer is the only one that has been approved by drug regulators and the only one used in children ages 12-17.
More than eight out of 10 adverse cardiac events cause hospitalization.
The researchers, led by Dr. Tracy Hoeg, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Davis, also said the data show that the same male population is less likely to need hospital care after vaccination if they have at least one medical comorbidity or pre-existing disease. serious, such as kidney disease, and that young girls have a much lower risk of heart inflammation or another adverse cardiac event.
The researchers searched VAERS for reports submitted between Jan. 1 and June 18 among adolescents ages 12 to 17 who received a mRNA vaccine against COVID-19. The search for symptoms included chest pain and three inflammatory heart conditions (myocarditis, pericarditis, and myopericarditis), with all reports that should include the word troponin. A total of 276 reports met the search criteria, of which 18 were excluded due to no objective evidence of elevated troponins.
All but one of the reports included in the final analysis were post-vaccination with Pfizer.
The search parameters were extended to those used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify probable cases of adverse cardiac events (CAE) by including the symptom of chest pain, which caused rates of vaccination of events were 2.5 times higher. among children ages 12 to 15 than those reported by the CDC.
“For boys without underlying health conditions, the chance of CAE or CAE hospitalization after their second dose of mRNA vaccination is considerably higher than the risk of 120 days of COVID-19 hospitalization, even in The long-term consequences of this vaccine-associated heart inflammation are not yet fully defined and should be studied, “the researchers concluded in their study, which has not yet been completed. peer-reviewed and published (pdf) on the medrxiv server.
They said the United States could consider following the example of countries such as Germany and Norway in failing to recommend COVID-19 vaccination of healthy children, who have a low risk of developing serial diseases after contracting the disease.
Another possible option is to recommend a single dose of messenger RNA-based vaccine.
“We are looking for a nuanced policy that meets the risk differences between men and women, which begins [around] 6 years, ”Allison Krug, an epidemiologist at Artemis Biomedical Communications who was one of the researchers, wrote on Twitter.
Vinay Prasad, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, was one of the circulating study, which he described as “a bomb discovery” that supports previous reports of the risk of heart inflammation. after vaccination in youth.
Others questioned the findings, including Frank Han, an Illinois-based cardiologist who argued that cases of myocarditis can only be confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging.
“Why do we have MRI criteria for myocarditis? To avoid accidentally diagnosing all positive adolescents with troponin with myocarditis (and wolf crying). Release troponin only from exercise, ”he wrote on Twitter.
The CDC, a major U.S. health agency, has said it does not comment or change policy based on studies not done by the agency.
Earlier this year, the CDC reported higher-than-expected rates of myocarditis among vaccinated youth. During a meeting last month, the CDC said data up to Aug. 18 showed much higher cases of myopericarditis than expected after the second dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. There were 117 cases among men aged 12 to 15, for example, when it was expected that there would be no more than five.
Dr. John Su, who is part of the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine working group, told the meeting that the agency is conducting enhanced surveillance to examine long-term outcomes among those suffering from heart inflammation after receiving a vaccine. COVID-19.
Dr. Nicola Klein of the Kaiser Permanent Vaccine Studies Center presented data on post-vaccination heart inflammation from the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a CDC database, and nine other health groups, including five Kaiser facilities Permanent. These data also showed higher-than-expected cases among young people after vaccination.
The CDC, however, still recommends two doses of COVID-19 shots and President Joe Biden on Thursday urged parents to vaccinate their children.
“The known risks of COVID-19 disease and its related complications, possibly serious, such as long-term health problems, hospitalization and even death, far outweigh the potential risks of having a rare adverse reaction to vaccination, including the potential risk of myocarditis or pericarditis, “the CDC says on its website.
But the agency’s vaccine advisory committee says people who developed myocarditis or pericarditis after an initial dose of an mRNA vaccine should “postpone receiving the second dose” until more data is available. security available.
Most cases of myocarditis produce brief stages of hospitalization, according to data presented during the recent meeting. According to US officials, no deaths have been confirmed among the cases.
Some countries recommend that children be vaccinated against COVID-19, although there have been different levels of differentiation between children with or without serious health conditions or not.
The UK Joint Vaccination and Vaccination Committee, for example, recommends healthy children not to receive COVID-19 vaccine until more safety and efficacy data are available.
The benefits do not outweigh the risks, the committee said in July, citing reports of post-vaccination heart inflammation.
Both Pfizer and Moderna shots were slapped with warnings by U.S. drug regulators over the summer over cases of heart inflammation seen after vaccination.
The Pfizer Comirnaty vaccine, which is not yet available, is approved for people 16 years of age or older and with emergency use authorization for children 12 to 15 years of age. There is no other vaccine authorized for this population.
Zachary Stieber covers American news, including political and judicial cases. He started at The Epoch Times as a New York subway reporter.