Vaccines and Heart Failure: Analysis of Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting
System between 1990-2021
Abstract
Introduction: the role of vaccines in preventing diseases is
well-established. However, the evolving techniques and types of vaccine
necessitate the search for its safety more than ever. While cases of
takotsubo cardiomyopathy and COVID-19 vaccine have been described, a
comprehensive study to investigate the role of vaccination with
cardiomyopathy and heart failure is lacking. The aim of this study is to
investigate the link between the current vaccines and heart failure.
Method: we utilized vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) to
search for cardiomyopathy, cardiac failure or ventricular dysfunction.
Disproportionality signal analysis was conducted by measuring reporting
odds ratio (ROR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: VAERS
reported over 1,300,000 adverse events between 1990-2021. Heart failure
was reported over 2000 times in association with multiple vaccines. 56%
of vaccine-related heart failure reported in males; 88% were serious;
19% mortality rate. The majority of reported heart failure was related
to COVID-19 vaccines with ROR of 21.6 (CI: 18.3 to 25.4,
P<0.0001). Smallpox was also significant with ROR 7.2 (CI
5.5-9.6, P<0.0001) On the other hand, heart failure was
minimally described to be associated with other vaccines (influenza,
zoster, tetanus, human papillomavirus (PPV)). Conclusions: Our study
showed for the first time that vaccines maybe associated with heart
failure. In particular, we show that covid-19 and smallpox vaccines are
associated with increased risk of heart failure. Vaccines against
Influenza, zoster, tetanus and (PPV) are associated with reduced heart
failure. These data warrant longitudinal studies to delineate the
association between heart failure and vaccines.