HERSHEY, Pa. — The risk of developing myocarditis — or inflammation of the heart muscle — is seven times higher with a COVID-19 infection than with the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a recent study by Penn State College of Medicine scientists. Patients with myocarditis can experience chest pains, shortness of breath or an irregular heartbeat. In severe cases, the inflammation can lead to heart failure and death.“Our findings show that the risk of myocarditis from being infected by COVID-19 is far greater than from getting the vaccine,” said Dr. Navya Voleti, a resident physician in the Department of Medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. “Moving forward, it will be important to monitor the potential long-term effects in those who develop myocarditis.”
Myocarditis is one of the complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although vaccines have been shown to reduce severe COVID-19 symptoms, heart complications have been associated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccination — particularly myocarditis in teenage boys. However, the relative risk of myocarditis due to vaccines and infections had not been well characterized in large studies.
The Penn State team conducted the largest study to date on the risk of developing myocarditis as a result of having the coronavirus vs. experiencing inflammation following COVID-19 vaccination. The researchers compared patients with COVID-19 — vaccinated and unvaccinated — to those without the …
Myocarditis seven times more likely with COVID-19 than vaccines – Pennsylvania State University
