Vaccine-Related Myocarditis Can Cause Death
The sudden heart-related death of a young and active 26-year-old man in New Zealand just 12 days after getting the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine is making headlines around the world and sparking concern. And rightly so.
Ever since the vaccines rolled out to the masses, we have been aware of a safety signal that the mRNA vaccines are causing myocarditis and pericarditis in men and women, primarily in those who are young and healthy, and who are at particularly low risk of a serious COVID-19 infection.
This begs the question: Are we putting young and healthy people at risk unnecessarily?
Myocarditis Can Be Serious
Rory Nairn was a healthy, active 26 years old New Zealand man, working as a plumber during the week, and played rugby, went diving and hunting on the weekends. He was just starting the next chapter of his life, planning a wedding, when he got the Pfizer vaccine on November 5.
That same night, he felt some heart flutters, according to his fiancée Ashleigh Wilson, and they chalked it up to stress from the process of selling and buying a house and planning a wedding.
The symptoms continued and 12 days later he started to have heart palpitations and an “uncomfortable” feeling in his chest. They decided to go to the hospital at 3 a.m., but within moments, Rory went into cardiac arrest and died in their home.
According to his fiancée, Nairn had no pre-existing medical conditions. She released the first page of the autopsy report where the coroner could find no other cause of death for the young man, and attributed it to the vaccine he had just received.
New Zealand’s Safety Monitoring Board made mention that it is investigating two other post-vaccine myocarditis deaths, including that of a 13-year-old who died of myocarditis in a period following vaccination.
What Is Myocarditis?
According to the CDC, myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis is inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. In both cases, the body’s immune system causes inflammation in response to an infection or some other trigger.
Myocarditis in general practice, independent of vaccination, is most common in young men and resolves spontaneously in at least half of patients. However, the condition may lead to dilated cardiomyopathy, heart transplantation, or death in up to a quarter of cases. So–it isn’t no big deal. And it may not be a fair trade, after all.
According to the World Health Organization and cardiology societies:
Myocarditis is defined as an inflammatory disorder of the heart muscle that is characterized by lymphocytic and monocytic infiltrates within the myocardium, myocyte degeneration, and nonischemic necrosis (the so-called Dallas criteria).
Importantly, this is a serious signal of harm not detected in the clinical trials. In the post-market surveillance from VAERS, we are now aware that the COVID mRNA vaccines (both Moderna and Pfizer) are associated with an increased risk for myocarditis and pericarditis in a specific demographic: young men and women below the age of 40, with a peak from 16-24 in males.
How is Myocarditis Diagnosed?
Patients with myocarditis typically present with chest pain, usually 2 to 3 days after a second dose of mRNA vaccination (but can be longer, ie. weeks), and have elevated cardiac troponin levels. Myocarditis can also occur after the first dose, but found to occur more often after the second dose of the vaccine.
The diagnosis is typically based on clinical, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic findings, elevated troponin levels, and a typical pattern on cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But the diagnosis of this condition and a determination of its cause often remain uncertain and cannot be definitive without endomyocardial biopsy or autopsy. This may be why many cases are described as “probable” myocarditis, because a biopsy or autopsy is required for a definitive diagnosis.
How Does the mRNA Vaccines Trigger Myocarditis?
According to this paper,
“although the mechanisms for development of myocarditis are not clear, molecular mimicry between the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and self-antigens, trigger of preexisting dysregulated immune pathways in certain individuals, immune response to mRNA, and activation of immunologic pathways, and dysregulated cytokine expression have been proposed.”
In the video below Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist from Texas, describes the difference between vaccine induced myocarditis and virus associated myocarditis:
Incidence of Post-Vaccination Myocarditis
The incidence varies depending on the study (and the definitions used for myocarditis, and the population, etc.). We can gain a lot by looking at a variety of research and methods:
This report on myocarditis adverse events from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) by Dr. Peter McCullough and Jessica Rose, PhD. has been temporarily removed by the publisher pending a new submission. They expanded the definition of myocarditis to include high troponin etc. as not every “adverse event” may be coded correctly. They produced a higher incidence of myocarditis (including suspected myocarditis) in the adolescent population than other reports, and therefore has been temporarily removed.
Watch this video with one of the authors of the paper Jessica Rose, PhD. discuss her findings:
Another look into VAERS by Hoeg et al. found a higher rate of post-vaccination myocarditis than the hospitalization rate for the same age group from COVID-19:
Post-vaccination CAE rate was highest in young boys aged 12-15 following dose two. For boys 12-17 without medical comorbidities, the likelihood of post vaccination dose two CAE is 162.2 and 94.0/million respectively. This incidence exceeds their expected 120-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate at both moderate (August 21, 2021 rates) and high COVID-19 hospitalization incidence.
This MMWR report (CDC) assessed VAERS and V-Safe and found that out of 8.9 million vaccinated adolescents, VAERS had received–as of mid-July 2021–there were 397 reports where myocarditis was listed.
“CDC reviewed 14 reports of death after vaccination. Among the decedents, four were aged 12–15 years and 10 were aged 16–17 years. All death reports were reviewed by CDC physicians; impressions regarding cause of death were pulmonary embolism (two), suicide (two), intracranial hemorrhage (two), heart failure (one), hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and disseminatedMycobacterium chelonaeinfection (one), and unknown or pending further records (six).”
The CDC writes:
“No reports of death to VAERS were determined to be the result of myocarditis.”
Language is important. They can easily “not determine” something, or call it a different name. But there are heart-related deaths post-vaccination in adolescents happening, and we are doing our best to document them:
California Teenager Died Suddenly Within 48 Hours of Pfizer Vaccine
13-Year-Old Jacob Clynick Dies Less Than 3 Days After Pfizer Vaccine
This Danish population based cohort study found that people vaccinated with mRNA vaccines from both Moderna and Pfizer had a higher rate of myocarditis in a 28 day post vaccine window than did unvaccinated people in the same environment.
“Vaccination with mRNA-1273 was associated with a significantly increased risk of myocarditis or myopericarditis in the Danish population, primarily driven by an increased risk among individuals aged 12-39 years, while BNT162b2 vaccination was only associated with a significantly increased risk among women.”
From an Israeli December 2021 study that searched the database of one of their largest health care organizations:
“The estimated incidence of myocarditis was 2.13 cases per 100,000 persons; the highest incidence [10.69 cases per 100,000 persons] was among male patients between the ages of 16 and 29 years.”
Here is a case report of 7 adolescents who presented with myocarditis after Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination and who recovered.
Case report of a 22-year-old man who died 5 days after the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
“We present autopsy findings of a 22-year-old man who developed chest pain 5 days after the first dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine and died 7 hours later. Histological examination of the heart revealed isolated atrial myocarditis, with neutrophil and histiocyte predominance. Immunohistochemical C4d staining revealed scattered single-cell necrosis of myocytes which was not accompanied by inflammatory infiltrates. Extensive contraction band necrosis was observed in the atria and ventricles. There was no evidence of microthrombosis or infection in the heart and other organs. The primary cause of death was determined to be myocarditis, causally-associated with the BNT162b2 vaccine.”
Here is a case report of a 23-year-old male who developed myocarditis after getting the Moderna vaccine:
“A 23-year-old Caucasian male with a history of exercise-induced asthma presented to the emergency department complaining of left-sided chest pain which started two days after receiving the second dose of the mRNA-1273 Moderna vaccine. The patient described the pain as sharp, intermittent with radiation to the left upper back and left arm with 10/10 severity and worsening with deep inspiration. Fever and chills were also present. The patient did not report any recent history of tick bites, upper respiratory symptoms, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (PND), orthopnea, arthralgias or rashes.”
Here is a case report of myocarditis following administration of the Janssen vaccine in a healthy, young male:
“A previously healthy 33-year-old male presented to the emergency department with acute onset substernal chest pain. Two days prior, he had received the Janssen Ad26.COV2·S vaccine.”
Some Reports Say Incidence Higher After Infection than Vaccine
Most studies done on myocarditis rates after COVID-19 is in a hospitalized population, and not taking into account mild or asymptomatic cases in the denominator.
The CDC estimated 37% of COVID infections are completely asymptomatic.
To get the true rate of myocarditis in a vaccine-naive population compared to a vaccinated population, we must include all infections in the denominator, including asymptomatic and mild.
Take for example this CDC study, it’s looking at risk of myocarditis among patients with and without COVID-19. Their denominator is 1.4 million “patients” with COVID-19, March 2020 to January 2021.
By January 2021 we had 22 million confirmed cases, and between 10% and 20% seroprevalence.
Here’s another one.
“Risk of Myocarditis from COVID-19 Infection in People Under Age 20: A Population-Based Analysis”
“For the 12-17-year-old male cohort, 6/6,846 (0.09%) patients developed myocarditis overall, with an adjusted rate per million of 876 cases (Wilson score interval 402 – 1,911). For the 12-15 and 16-19 male age groups, the adjusted rates per million were 601 (257 – 1,406) and 561 (240 – 1,313).For 12-17-year-old females, there were 3 (0.04%) cases of myocarditis of 7,361 patients. The adjusted rate was 213 (73 – 627) per million cases. For the 12-15- and 16-19-year-old female cohorts the adjusted rates per million cases were 235 (64 – 857) and 708 (359 – 1,397). The outcomes occurred either within 5 days (40.0%) or from 19-82 days (60.0%).”
The study found 6 males who developed myocarditis out of 6,846 patients for an adjusted rate of 876 cases per million. Inclusion criteria is COVID-19 diagnosis. The vast majority of COVID-19 infections do not result in hospitalization, so again this denominator is much too small, and not representative of mild cases of COVID-19 that do not result in hospitalization, as well as asymptomatic infections that are not detected.
Read some of the public comments on this study to get an idea of how the data is not complete or representative to draw the conclusions it does.
Is Modern Medicine Going Too Far?
Let’s cut to the heart of the matter: One of the major issues with modern medicine (and heroic medicine, and patent medicines) is there exists the possibility that the “cure” is worse than the “disease.”
Since we know that nothing is one-size-fits-all, could one person’s medicine be another person’s poison?
For years, we have known that not everyone will die or even be seriously harmed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, (in fact many people can have the virus and have no symptoms whatsoever), it would be a ghastly mistake to intentionally harm young healthy people who otherwise have little to no risk from a virus.
The CDC advisory committee ACIP believes:
“That the benefits of using mRNA COVID-19 vaccines under the FDA’s EUA clearly outweigh the risks in all populations, including adolescents and young adults.”
However, it should be your choice. Any life saved by the vaccine could be offset by a life stolen by the same vaccine, and this like so many have pointed out is nothing more than a vaccine roulette.
VAERS Today
A search on January 5, 2022 yields over 2,265 reports that list myocarditis for all ages and sexes (for the COVID-19 vaccines).
Click this link to view this particular search: VAERS myocarditis saved search.
Of those reports, there are 44 reports that resulted in death.
| 18-29 years | Female | 2 Doses | Patient presented 5/16/2021 with 1 week dizziness, fever and sore throat, found to have acute myopericarditis c/b cardiogenic shock and bradycardic arrest. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-29 years | Female | 2 Doses | er records indicate pt noted to pass out with seizure like activity, taken to er and found in status epilepticus, stabilized and transferred to tertiary care facility. tertiary center records not yet available but report from family indicates ongoing seizures as well as recalcitrant cardiac arrhythmias. Pt was intubated and never recovered despite 3 days care and resuscitation. Autopsy report available to me indicates lymphocytic myocarditis as primary cause of death | |
| 18-29 years | Male | 2 Doses | Death. Presented to the emergency department with diffuse ST elevations concerning for myocarditis. His troponin was elevated at 113. His lactate was 14. He was in renal failure with a creatinine of 2.97, GFR 26. D-dimer was elevated at 1.25 without any obvious pulmonary embolism according to the CT. Upon presentation he was hyperventilating, not complaining of chest pain. Labs demonstrate a significant metabolic acidosis with a pH of 7.124, PCO2 of 15.4. O2 sat 96.8% on room air. Patient unfortunately went into cardiac arrest and was unable to be revived. Cause of death suspected to be myocarditis and cardiogenic shock In the setting of active COVID-19 infection. |
Same search but pericarditis (heart inflammation) results in 1,589 total events, all ages, all sexes, of those, 9 resulted in death.
| 40-49 years | Male | 3 Doses | I am the epidemiologist reporting on behalf of 42 year-old male patient. Patient received three doses of the Pfizer vaccine, according to immunization records. The first dose was on 02/13/21, the second on 03/06/21, and the third was on 10/16/2021. According to death certificate, patient was found dead on 10/31/21 at home (15 days post dose 3). Immediate cause of death listed is ?complications of pericarditis.? Interval between onset and death is listed as ?unknown.? I do not have any further details on underlying health conditions that may have contributed to this fatality. |
|---|
Myocarditis Is Not Always Mild
Ben Featherston, son of US Attorney Brit Featherston, died November 26, 2021 after several months in the ICU from organ failure due to myocarditis–the cause of myocarditis not found.
According to postings on his family’s Facebook page, the pre-med major at The University of Texas became sick September 29. He was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston where doctors worked to identify and treat his illness.
He went through a number of procedures and was in ICU for nearly two months, including amputation of his legs above the knee at the beginning of November in an effort stabilize his condition and save his life.
The family made a statement mid-November that Ben’s myocarditis was not the result of COVID-19 infection or the associated vaccines in a statement, however if the young man received the vaccine it would be difficult to indefinitely rule out:
“11/14/2021
What a beautiful sunny Sunday in Texas. Ben’s 24th floor room and windows look out over NRG stadium and the iconic Astrodome. Today is Ben’s 46th day at Texas Children’s and he is slowly improving.
We have come a long way in 46 days. Ben’s multi-system organ failure had him as close to death without touching it as one can be. Drs have shared that upon arrival, if Ben’s condition was a medical test question, the answer would have been one sentence, “not compatible with sustaining life.”
Ben has outlasted the ECMO, ventilators, 10 plus surgeries, reduced IVs from 20+ down to 4-5, chest tubes/drains reduced from 8 to 1. And today he is alert, awake and last night had 4 phone calls with friends.
4 Weeks in an ICU bed without movement zaps ALL your strength. After starting and stopping and starting Phys Therapy (PT) over the last two weeks, Ben is already recovering a lot of strength and is progressing.
In spite of hundreds of tests looking for the origin of Ben’s illness, it has not and probably will never be determined. Tissue samples were sent all over the country to specialists and yet no identification has occurred. Many, many diseases and viruses were ruled out, including that the origin did NOT have anything to do with COVID or the associated vaccines.
Likely what strange bug that sent his immune response into overdrive was killed in the first 10 days of his illness, leaving his exaggerated immune response to continue. Drs see Ben’s originating disease as a one in a million+ chance of happening.
Whatever it was (viral, bacterial, food borne, toxic algae, or tick bite) does not change how he is being treated at this point. Albeit, it would be nice to have some disease name to be pissed at.
As you know, Ben’s legs were amputated just above the knees two weeks agosto result of prolonged profound shock and compartment syndrome. A decision not easily come to, but one at the time necessary to save his life.
He is progressing well and Rehabilitation Drs have already been consulted to get Ben back up and running when he is well, including temporary prosthetics as soon as he is strong enough.
Challenges remain that keep him in very serious condition, such as antibiotic resistant infections, and getting his stomach/intestines back working. This is a very delicate thing when a gut has not worked for over a month. Getting the gut working is key to getting the rest of his organs ( liver, kidneys) functioning normally. This is a priority, but a very slow process!
As Cardiac Surgeon Hickey told us early on, this will not be a day to day thing, it’s a week to week thing. He was so right, two steps forward, one back. And this journey will take a long time.
Although Ben has fought the ICU delirium, he is much better. His speech has gotten stronger the last week. Ben remains in very serious condition, but everyday he gets a little stronger.
Ben smiles, jokes and is dealing with losing his lower legs bravely. He recognizes the instant battle he is in and the longer term battle ahead. Our hope and unrealistic expectations for recovery are fast, but in reality this will take a while (general healing and then rehabilitation). Week to week, Ben has made incredible progress, some people here and in Beaumont, call it a miracle. They are right!
Ben recognizes he must keep up the fight with a goal of being back at UT and scuba diving this time next year! Sometimes that is hard when you see how sick he is, but he never wavers when asked to make an effort to get better.
Lastly, Ben’s strength and ours is derived from you, our beloved friends, family, Drs and nurses, that fight for Ben every day. Prayers work with God’s actions through these Drs and nurses hands. Last night Ben had 4 phone calls and talked with his buddies about food, College, football, and he also told his awesome buddies “I love you.” Something, weeks ago, we worried he would never do again. Now he is sitting on the side of the bed with help and working to get stronger. And he told the Orthopedic Surgeon (when she told him his stumps looked very healthy) “ then get me a wheel chair and roll me out of here.”
As I write this the roller coaster continues, his infection attempts to make him more sick and his fever spikes. We don’t panic any more, we just deal with it. But compared to 4 weeks ago (relating to his favorite toy as a kid, character Buzz Lightyear”) we are light years from where were!
Ben’s body continues to heal and he continues to be strong. Your love, care outreach, gifts have supplied us with incredible energy and continue to help Ben heal. As one of his Orthopedic Drs told him “ You are going to have incredible story to tell some day!”
“To infinity and beyond!” Thank you and Love to All from the Featherstons”
thanks for reporting. more parents should be aware of this.