People infected with Covid-19 face a higher risk of myocarditis and other inflammatory heart conditions than those vaccinated against the disease, according a large study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday.
The CDC found the risk of myocarditis, pericarditis and multisystem inflammatory syndrome was higher after Covid infection than after Pfizer or Moderna vaccination in males and females ages 5 and older. However, these cardiac conditions are rare after infection and vaccination alike, according to the CDC.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle and pericarditis is an inflammation of the outer heart lining. Multisystem inflammatory is a condition associated with Covid infection that affects multiple organ systems.
Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines have been associated with an elevated risk of myocarditis and pericarditis after the second dose, particularly among boys ages 12- to 17-years-old. However, even in this group the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis was higher after Covid infection than after vaccination, according to the CDC.
Among teenage boys, the rate of myocarditis or pericarditis after infection was at least 50 cases per 100,000 people, compared to at least 22 cases per 100,000 after the second vaccine dose. The overall risk of heart conditions after Covid infection was up to 5.6 times higher compared to the second vaccine dose. The risk was up to 69 times higher after infection compared to the first shot.
The CDC examined the electronic health records of more than 15 million people ages 5 and older across 40 health-care systems from Jan. 2021 through Jan. 2022. Scientists studied the risk of developing a cardiac condition after a Covid infection compared to the first and second doses of Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines. The study excluded booster doses from the comparison.
