This was a literary review that I wrote on Covid-19 and myocarditis. This was the topic that I chose to research, this assignment helped me learn how to use academic databases as well as how to analyze and understand scholarly articles The COVID 19 Vaccine and Myocarditis Sophia Rosario The City College of New York ENGL 21003: Writing for the Sciences Dr. Leslie Carpenter 1 April 2024 Abstract Myocarditis is where the mid layer of the cardiac wall gets inflamed. This may occur for various different reasons but it is mostly a complication from viral infections. Myocarditis is a rare condition and can be deadly if it is severe. There have been reports of cases of myocarditis in individuals with no previous predispositions to it and who have received a dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. This has raised questions about the possibility of a potential link between the vaccine and myocarditis. In this literature review, the correlation is examined by looking at current evidence regarding the correspondence between myocarditis and the COVID-19 vaccine. Introduction COVID-19 is a rapidly spreading virus that has affected the population globally in the recents years. It has claimed many lives due to its effects on the respiratory system and alongside its various symptoms. In order to keep the spread of this disease, developing a vaccine was essential. However, there have been a recent increase of reports of myocarditis asn the common denominator between all of the individuals that have reported with myocarditis is the fact that they have received a mRNA vaccine. How did these correlations arise? After the release of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine there has been a significant rise in cases of myocarditis. Since myocarditis is a rare condition and most of the subject didn’t have any prior or existing medical conditions that may have affected their likelihood to develop myocarditis. 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 also 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. He was also placed on venous-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-A ECMO) once he started presenting cardiac failure. Another 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. Like the 15 year old the man reported no family history of cardiovascular disease, and was on no other medication. 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. All the data has so far pointed in the direction that the mRNA vaccine was the only variable that may have caused these two patients to develop such a condition like myocarditis. To further support the conclusions being drawn from these case reports 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 Evaluation of the Subject pool The subject pool consisted of males and females of a rather young age. This young age range provides a good sense on how myocarditis is a potentially dangerous side effect from the vaccine despite this being one of the least vulnerable age groups. However, it is important to note this subject pool lacks female representation. This can either be an indication of two things. The first being that getting myocarditis after getting dosed with the covid-19 vaccine is a more likely occurrence in males than in females. The second may be a possible gap in the data. This can affect the overall conclusions of the results. Principle Results The principal results that can be drawn from this research is that there seems to be a correlation between myocarditis and the mRNA covid-19 vaccine. Reliability of Results There is some very compelling evidence but there is still more research to be done, so these results can’t be deemed reliable just yet. References 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. 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.