Myopericarditis after vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), 1990-2018

Area of Science:

• Vaccine safety surveillance
• Immunology
• Public health

Background:

• Myopericarditis following vaccination is infrequently documented in medical literature.
• This study analyzes reports of myopericarditis post-vaccination submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in the United States.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comprehensive descriptive analysis of myopericarditis cases reported after vaccination.
• To identify specific vaccines associated with myopericarditis and analyze reporting trends over time.

Main Methods:

• Utilized U.S. VAERS data from 1990-2018 for myopericarditis cases meeting specific definitions.
• Stratified analyses by age, report seriousness, sex, time to onset, vaccine type, and co-exposure to other causes.
• Employed Empirical Bayesian data mining to detect disproportionate reporting of myopericarditis.

Main Results:

• Out of 620,195 VAERS reports, 708 (0.1%) were identified as myopericarditis.
• Most cases involved males (79%), were serious (69%), and had symptom onset within 2 weeks post-vaccination.
• Smallpox (59%) and anthrax (23%) vaccines were most frequently reported; disproportionate reporting was observed only for smallpox vaccine.

Conclusions:

• Myopericarditis remains a rare adverse event following vaccination in the U.S.
• Smallpox vaccine was associated with the highest number of myopericarditis reports, with other vaccines showing infrequent occurrences.