This was a research proposal that urged for further research on the correlations between COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis. This assignment really helped develop my ability to use scholarly articles as evidence to support my conclusions. COVID 19 Vaccine and Myocarditis Research Proposal Sophia Rosario The City College of New York ENGL 21003: Writing for the Sciences Dr. Leslie Carpenter 15 April 2024 There still hasn’t been any clear cause as to why myocarditis is more likely to be developed after the administration of the covid vaccination. Myocarditis is a serious condition and when severe can result in death, therefore it’s important to further investigate the correlation and find the cause for it. From what I have gathered there isn’t any research that has come to a possible reason behind the correlation of myocarditis and the covid vaccine. Abstract There has been a correlation found between the development of myocarditis and the administration of the covid-19 vaccine. The main question that this research is aiming to answer is why is myocarditis developed after the administration of the covid vaccine. The research will be conducted with a sample group that consists of 20-30 patients that have been diagnosed with myocarditis developed after receiving the covid vaccine. They will be closely monitored and will receive full cardio and pathological work ups in order to collect data. Hopefully the outcomes result in findings that can determine why the covid vaccine can cause myocarditis, and hopefully from there find a way to reduce the development of myocarditis after the administration of the vaccine. Background Current case studies consist of teens and young adults that report cases of myocarditis in individuals with no previous predispositions to it and who have received a dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. For example, a case report from the 2021 journal ESC Heart Failure, shows a 20 year old that got transferred into the hospital with persistent chest pain around 12 hours after receiving his COVID-19 vaccination. His labs indicated that he had an increase in troponin levels while the EKG and chest x-ray came back normal. The patient tested negative of COVID-19 and had no other indicators of any autoimmune disorders. Overall the patient was in previous good health up until he was administered the vaccination. Additionally, . A case report from the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health overviews a 15 year old patient that was pesentinging with a fever and loss appetite on admission to the hospital. The patient had no familial history with cardiac or autoimmune concerns and had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He didn’t have prior history with vaccination against COVID-19 meaning that he was administered his first dose of the vaccine when he was presenting with these symptoms. By the fifth day of his hospitalization he was oxygenating poorly and had to be placed on a ventilator. Finally, The Monash children’s hospital ran a case study in order to investigate the possible correction of the vaccination and myocarditis. This study used 33 adolescents that presented with covid associated myocarditis, 27 of them being male and the remaining 6 being female. The study collected that 18% of the group presented with myocarditis after their first dose of the vaccine while 82% presented with myocarditis following the second dose. All 33 patients reported chest pain, 4 presented with a fever, 2 presented with shortness of breath, 7 reported a headache, 6 presented with myalgia, 3 reported palpitations, and 6 reported other symptoms. The data also included the average troponin elevations as well other characteristics that indicated the condition of myocarditis. All of this data is consistent with the hypothesis that the covid-19 vaccine can cause the development of myocarditis, however the reason as to why this occurs has yet to be discovered. This is why this new research is important as it will further advance the science regarding the covid vaccine, and possibly advance the overall science of vaccine development. Methods As previously stated, the research will be conducted using a sample group of 20-30 patients. These patients will all have been diagnosed with myocarditis that started to present itself shortly after the patients have received the covid vaccine. Just like in the case study conducted by IJC Heart & Vasculature (formerly IJC Heart & Vessels), each patient will undergo standardized multi-parametric CMR for work-up of myocarditis in order to acquire proper imaging of the hearts. They will also undergo similar lab work that the Monash children’s hospital administered when it came to their own case study. This would allow for a clear framework of what each patient’s blood work looks like. Additionally, the research will take biopsies of each patient’s cardiac tissue, to get a better microscopic analysis of each heart. Outcomes The outcomes of this study will consist of all of the data that would be collected from all of the tests conducted on the patients. With thorough analysis, the hope is to find some sort of pattern when it comes to vaccine correlated myocarditis and how the body responds to it. For example, this can mean changes in T-cells, or a production of a certain enzyme. Once a common discrepancy is found, it can be traced back to the vaccine and what it’s composed of and see what part of the vaccine is causing the body to react in such a manner. Conclusion All in all, this research is important because myocarditis is a serious condition, and when severe it can be life threatening. The research can help find the reason why the covid vaccine can lead to the development of myocarditis, and in turn can make it possible to find ways to reduce the development of myocarditis after administering the covid vaccine. This can make the vaccine safer, and overall improve public health long term. Work Cited Page Nguyễn, T. D., Mall, G., Westphal, J., Weingärtner, O., Möbius‐Winkler, S., & Schulze, P. C. (2021). Acute myocarditis after COVID‐19 vaccination with mRNA‐1273 in a patient with former SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. ESC Heart Failure, 8(6), 4710–4714. Seitz, A., Rogers, C., Moutzoukis, G., Oberli, L., Ong, P., Bekeredjian, R., & Mahrholdt, H. (2022). CMR findings in patients referred for suspected myocarditis following mRNA-based COVID vaccination compared with pre-COVID myocarditis referrals: A single-centre observational study. International Journal of Cardiology. Heart & Vasculature, 43, 101142. Shime, M., Nozaki, Y., Morita, A., Ishiodori, T., Murakami, T., Yamasaki, H., Yamamoto, M., & Takada, H. (2023). Life‐threatening severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 mRNA vaccine‐associated myocarditis after COVID‐19 myocarditis. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 59(12), 1319–1322. Varma, S., Horton, A., Taylor, A., Ditchfield, M., Hope, S., & Rao, S. J. (2022). Myocarditis after COVID ‐19 mRNA vaccination in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia (Print), 217(5), 260–261.