Much hope is placed in vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic.
But could the vaccine from the manufacturer Biontech be responsible for heart muscle inflammation?
Berlin - The corona vaccine from the manufacturer Astrazeneca in particular made headlines in recent months, as a few people had suffered a sometimes fatal thrombosis after administration.
But the vaccine from the manufacturer Johnson & Johnson is also suspected of promoting this complication.
Now the previously scandal-free vaccine from the manufacturer Biontech is also moving into focus.
Israel had reported inflammation of the heart muscles in the past few days that could be linked to the administration of the vaccine.
An expert from Germany is now classifying the suspicion.
Corona vaccine Biontech responsible for isolated myocarditis?
From the point of view of the German expert, reports from Israel about a possible connection between rare cases of heart muscle inflammation (myocarditis) and corona vaccinations are hardly surprising and should not be a cause for concern for those who have been vaccinated. “This is not unexpected and does not worry me. It is about a few hundred cases of a disease with mostly mild
course in a total of more than five million vaccinated, "said the cardiologist and pharmacologist Thomas Meinertz when
asked by
the German press agency.
From other vaccinations it is known that afterwards in rare cases heart muscle inflammation can occur, triggered by an excessive immune reaction.
Whether the cases in Israel are such a reaction is still completely open.
Meinertz also points to the heightened self-perception many people have after vaccination.
"Many patients have expectations and then report, for example, cardiac arrhythmias".
This is the normal background noise that is now being noticed.
Biontech vaccine: Israel records heart muscle inflammation - expert sees no cause for concern
Heart muscle inflammation is already more common in younger people than in older people - and Meinertz does not yet see evidence that it actually occurs more frequently in vaccinated people than would actually be expected. Myocarditis can only be diagnosed with certainty with a biopsy of the heart muscle, he said. In the mostly mild cases in Israel, it was diagnosed suggestively, for example on the basis of complaints such as chest pain, with an echocardiogram, laboratory values, using an MRI or EKG. "The EKG only gives an indication."
The reports are no reason to generally question the corona vaccination, said the doctor from the scientific
Advisory board of the German Heart Foundation.
But they support the current reluctance of Stiko, which has not yet issued a general vaccination recommendation for all children and adolescents.
“You have to be aware that a vaccination is an intervention.” For the expert, nothing speaks against vaccinating children with previous illnesses.
In these patients, the benefit of the vaccination outweighs the risk of a rare and less dangerous side effect.
A committee of the Israeli Ministry of Health believes a connection between the corona vaccination, especially the second dose, and myocarditis is likely.
After examining 275 cases of myocarditis between December 2020 and April 2021, the team of experts came to this conclusion.
In Israel, the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer was mainly used.
Corona: does Biontech vaccine trigger rare side effects?
Paul Ehrlich Institute comments
148 cases of myocarditis occurred close to the vaccinations - 27 cases out of 5.4 million who received a first dose
and 121 cases out of a good five million who received a second vaccination.
About half of the myocarditis patients reportedly suffered from previous illnesses.
The disease particularly affects younger men between the ages of 16
and 30, especially those between the ages of 16 and 19.
In 95 percent of the cases, however, it is a minor illness that passes within a few days.
Meinertz emphasized that such inflammations usually healed on their own, only a few patients retained performance restrictions.
In the latest safety report on Covid-19 vaccines from the Paul Ehrlich Institute from May 7th, it says, on the basis of the available data from Germany, there is "no risk signal" with regard to myocarditis.
Reports will continue to be monitored and investigated.
A PEI spokeswoman said on request that new information was being processed for the upcoming safety report that was still being verified by drug safety experts.
"The
data evaluation is still incomplete here."
The corona numbers in Germany will also decrease on Saturday.
But the RKI points out the correct interpretation of the numbers.
