It can be caused by genetic mutations,a blockage of the coronary arteries or a weakness in the heart muscle. In about 20 per cent of cases,the cause is unknown.
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Using data from a registry set up to investigate cardiac arrests among Victorians aged under 50,Paratz looked at 2242 instances of cardiac arrest from April 2019 to the end of March 2022.
She divided the data into three periods:before the onset of COVID-19 in Australia,during the pandemic but before the rollout of a vaccination program,and following mandatory vaccination.
No variation was seen in the median monthly rates of cardiac arrest – it ranged from 61 to 63 deaths per month – or myocarditis,where there were just 13 cases over the three-year study period.
Previous research has linked the coronavirus vaccine to rare complications such as myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) and pericarditis (swelling of the membrane around the heart). But it has also found that COVID-19 infections aremuch more likely than vaccines to cause these heart complications,and when they do occur,they are more severe.
Paratz said the majority of myocarditis or pericarditis episodes associated with the vaccine were mild,and her research showed they had not led to a rise in deaths.
“This is an incredibly reassuring amount of data for people who’ve been vaccinated,” she said.
“Extrapolation can be the enemy when you say,‘vaccinations may cause a cardiac issue,therefore,cardiac deaths are going to go up’ ... we’re not seeing that borne out. ”
Paratz also examined the deaths of 38 people who suffered cardiac arrest within 30 days of their COVID vaccination. No differences were observed in the underlying causes of their deaths when compared with age-matched data,and no one in this group had myocarditis.
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Professor Jason Kovacic,the executive director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney,said the research convincingly showed there was no increase in sudden cardiac death linked to the COVID vaccine.
Kovacic,who is also a senior cardiologist at St Vincent’s in Sydney,said he had also observed this clinically.
He has treated a handful of people with vaccine-related myocarditis and said they had all made a complete recovery following a short stay in hospital.
He has also treated patients with heart issues linked to COVID infections and said they had spent much longer in hospital,and some had never recovered.
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“I am aware that there’s been a couple of people around the world who have had a serious cardiac issue related to vaccination,” he said.
“But there’s no question the vaccination has saved many,many lives,is very effective,and has been the thing that has helped us get out of this pandemic.”
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