A new study suggests that the risk of heart complications is significantly higher after SARS-CoV-2 infection than after COVID-19 vaccination with a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.
The study, released Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, analyzed electronic medical record data from 40 US healthcare systems from January 1, 2021 through January 31, 2022.
The researchers found that the risk of cardiac consequences was significantly higher after SARS-CoV-2 infection than after the first, second or unspecified dose of the mRNA vaccine COVID-19 vaccination for all other groups by gender and age, the study says.
These results support the continued use of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 in all eligible people over the age of five, according to the same source.
Cardiac complications, particularly myocarditis and pericarditis, have been associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and mRNA Covid vaccine vaccination. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome is a rare but serious complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection with frequent cardiac involvement, according to the study.