SARS-CoV-2 vaccination protects against heart attacks stroke after COVID-19 infection

Vaccination protects against acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke after breakthrough COVID infection, according to researchers from Korea writing in JAMA. But post-infection without vaccination is still associated with higher rates of AMI and stroke due to an increased risk of thrombosis, the researchers found. While vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are effective against COVID-19 and progression to severe disease, it’s been unclear whether vaccination affords protection against secondary complications such as thrombolic events after infection. Read: The great avocado disappointment A retrospective cohort study compared the incidence of AMI and ischemic stroke after COVID-19 infection in patients who had not been vaccinated and those who'd had two doses of mRNA vaccines or viral vector vaccine. Korea has universal healthcare coverage, and researchers retrieved data from two national health databases—including data pertaining to adults aged 18 years or older who were diagnosed with COVID-19, (including asymptomatic infections) between July 2020 and December 2021 in the study. Cases of reinfection and people hospitalized for COVID-19 for 30 or more days were excluded. For outcomes, patients were observed through to March 31, 2022. The primary outcome was composite hospitalizations for AMI and ischemic stroke that occurred between 31 to 120 days after a COVID-19 diagnosis. The authors noted the first 30 days were excluded “because of the difficulty of differentiating cardiovascular events occurring as complications of COVID-19 versus acute phase treatment.” A total of 231,037 patients were included in the analysis. Of these, 62,727 had never been vaccinated and 168,310 were fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated patients tended to be older and had more comorbidities, but severe COVID-19 was less common in this group than in the non-vaccinated group. The composite outcome occurred in 31 unvaccinated patients and 74 fully vaccinated patients. The adjusted risk was significantly lower in fully vaccinated patients for both AMI and ischemic stroke, the study said. Researchers concluded the "findings support vaccination, especially for those with risk factors for cardiovascular diseases." Read: DOACs found to be safe in breast cancer patients using tamoxifen

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination protects against heart attacks stroke after COVID-19 infection

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