At a regular briefing today (29th), the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced that it had established guidelines for medical personnel and distributed them the previous day to strengthen management as rare cases of myocarditis and pericarditis were reported among those vaccinated with mRNA.
The promotion team formed an advisory group including experts to discuss how to report and manage myocarditis and pericarditis, and then came up with this guideline.
According to the guidelines, symptoms such as chest pain, pressure, discomfort, shortness of breath or shortness of breath, pain when breathing, rapid heartbeat or palpitations, and syncope appear or worsen after the mRNA-based vaccine is administered. Myocarditis and pericarditis may be suspected.
Medical staff can diagnose myocarditis in these patients after confirming the findings through blood tests, electrocardiography, and echocardiography.
Pericarditis is a case where two or more are confirmed by acute chest pain, pericardial fricative sound on auscultation, and echocardiography.
Myocarditis and pericarditis can be treated with steroids or other medications or surgery, and mild cases can be improved without treatment.
The promotion team urged the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to promptly seek medical care if symptoms of myocarditis or pericarditis appear after vaccination, and the medical staff who treated the patient immediately report any adverse reactions to the authorities.
In the United States, 1226 cases of myocarditis and pericarditis have been reported among 300 million mRNA-based vaccines since April this year.
As of the 11th, it was 4.1 cases per million vaccinations, mainly from male adolescents and young adults.
The promotion team said that symptoms usually occurred within 4 days after the inoculation, and the incidence was higher after the second inoculation than after the first inoculation.
(Photo = Getty Images Korea, provided by the Corona 19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, Yonhap News)