An incidence of fatal myocarditis has been reported from Japan in an individual who took a COVID-19 shot, with the person dying nine days after hospitalization.
Researchers suggested that “myocarditis may occur after vaccination, and caution should be exercised if people complain of symptoms, such as fever, cough, chest pain, dyspnea, or syncope after vaccination, especially in young men.”
After losing consciousness, the subject was rushed to an emergency room. The doctors discovered he was suffering from heart rhythm issues and used electric currents to help the organ return to its normal rhythm.
“Continuous resuscitation resumed spontaneous heartbeat; however, the patient did not regain consciousness,” the report said.
Despite taking measures like mechanical ventilation and temperature control, the subject experienced multiple organ failures due to irreversible brain damage, eventually dying on the ninth day. The subject’s PCR test for COVID-19 infection came out negative, meaning he was not infected.
An autopsy heart revealed several “inflammatory foci” in the ventricles of the organ, mostly in the right ventricle. The left and right ventricles are chambers of the heart that pump out the blood.
The inflammatory foci exhibited “myocardial degeneration.” The location of the inflammatory foci suggested they may have caused the lethal arrhythmia, the researchers wrote.
The study noted that a “direct causal relationship” between COVID-19 vaccination and myocarditis “could not be definitively established” as researchers did not test the tissue specimens for viral genomes or autoantibodies.
However, “no other cause has been identified” to suggest the reason behind myocarditis in the subject. As such, “COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-associated myocarditis was strongly implicated in this case based on the patient’s sex, age, time of onset, and histology.”
“Although the severity of myocarditis associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is usually mild and the benefits of vaccination appear to outweigh the side effects, it should be noted that fatal arrhythmia may occur depending on the site of inflammatory foci in the heart.”
Immune Reaction
The researchers in the study said that the “pathogenesis of postvaccination myocarditis remains unclear.” In the case of the Japanese subject, chronic thyroiditis and fatty liver were observed.The study posits that these conditions could have contributed to “immunological abnormalities against the vaccine” in the individual.
Some studies of patients with clinically suspected myocarditis have reported that inflammation was centered in the right ventricle and the septum which separates the left and right sides of the heart, it said. Such conclusions are “consistent with our case.”
“Myocarditis following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination is usually mild and has good prognosis. However, occasional deaths have occurred.” Researchers cited a study from Israel which found that “95 percent of patients have mild illness” following vaccination and 0.7 percent die.
In the case of the Japanese individual, myocarditis was classified as mild. However, “its proximity to the conduction system was considered to have caused fatal arrhythmia.”
The study also cited data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System to detail incidences of myocarditis.
According to VAERS data: “as of June 2021, the frequency of myocarditis/pericarditis within 7 days after the second dose of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine was higher than that in the general population of men aged 12 to 49 years and women aged 12 to 29 years. The incidence peaked 3 days after the second vaccination, with most cases occurring on days 2 to 4.”
COVID Vaccines and Myocarditis
In recent times, more reports of myocarditis among COVID-19-vaccinated individuals have come forth. A study published last month looked at VAERS data to determine the number of myocarditis cases reported as side effects from vaccinations.It found that “the number of myocarditis reports in VAERS after COVID-19 vaccination in 2021 was 223 times higher than the average of all vaccines combined for the past 30 years.”
“This represented a [2,500 percent] increase in the absolute number of reports in the first year of the campaign when comparing historical values prior to 2021.”
Roughly 50 percent of myocarditis cases occurred among youths and 69 percent of affected individuals were males.
Out of a total of 3,078 COVID-19 vaccine-induced myocarditis cases as of August 2023, 76 percent resulted in emergency care and hospitalization, and 3 percent died.
“The laboratory investigation showed signs of infection (leukocytosis, high levels of c-reactive protein). His condition rapidly deteriorated, and the patient died.” The infant passed away “due to pericarditis and myocarditis.”
The authors also recommended an “immediate removal” of COVID-19 vaccines from the childhood immunization schedule. They pointed out that children were at very low risk of infection.
