A person is vaccinated against the coronavirus in a file image. (EFE/Salas)
The covid-19 vaccinethe same one that has managed to eradicate the pandemic, could be related to a decrease of the incidence of heart attacks and strokesThis is indicated by a recent investigation led by the Universities of Cambridge, Bristol and Edinburgh (United Kingdom) and whose results have already been published in the journal Nature Communications.
These findings are based on anonymous medical records from 46 million UK adults between 8 December 2020 and 23 January 2022, with which scientists compared the incidence of cardiovascular disease after vaccination with the incidence before or without the vaccinationduring the first two years of the program.
The researchers concluded that cases of arterial thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes were reduced by up to 10% within 13 to 24 weeks after the first dose of the vaccine. After the second booster dose, this decreased by 27% with AstraZeneca and 20% with Pfizer. Pulmonary embolism (which occurs when a blood clot blocks blood flow to an artery in the lungs) and deep vein thrombosis (formation of a clot in a deep vein) followed a similar pattern.
Dr Samantha Ip is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and co-lead author of the study. She said: “This research further supports the large body of evidence on the effectiveness of the vaccination program against Covid-19, which has been proven to provide protection and save millions of lives around the world.”
Despite this recent finding, previous studies have indicated just the opposite, that the incidence of rare cardiovascular complications is higher after some vaccines against coronavirus. For example, cases of myocarditis and pericarditis have been reported after mRNA-based vaccines, such as the Pfizer/Biotech vaccine, and vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia after adenovirus-based vaccines, such as the AstraZeneca vaccine.
This study supports these findings, but it is important to note that did not identify new cardiovascular conditions associated with COVID-19 vaccination and provides greater assurance that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks. The truth is that the incidence of heart disease is higher after having suffered from a particularly severe coronavirus. This may explain why the incidence of heart attacks and strokes is lower in vaccinated people compared to unvaccinated people, but other explanations are beyond the scope of this study.
“Given the critical role that COVID-19 vaccines play in protecting people from the virus, it is important that we continue to studying the benefits and risks “The availability of population-wide data has allowed us to study different combinations of COVID-19 vaccines and consider rare cardiovascular complications. This would not have been possible without the wealth of data we are privileged to access and our close collaborations across institutions,” concluded Dr Venexia Walker, Research Associate at the University of Bristol and co-lead author.
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