[II-TSPCJS1-02] ECG Screening for Cardiac-related Adverse Events after the BNT162b2 Vaccine in High School Students
Since the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China in early 2020, the pandemic has become a major global health concern. While vaccines are believed to be crucial for preventing COVID-19, there have been reports of vaccine-related cardiac events, particularly peri-myocarditis. Large-scale nationwide studies have revealed that the incidence of myocarditis is as high as 70-150/million doses after the 2nd dose of mRNA vaccine in young males. How to identify the high-risk group and early detect the cardiac-related adverse events has become an important issue. In December 2021, in cooperation with the school vaccination system of Taipei City government, we performed a mass ECG screening study during the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccines. Paired comparisons of ECGs and questionnaires survey were performed before and after vaccine in four male-predominant senior high schools. Among 4928 students screened, 17.1% had at least one cardiac symptom after the second vaccine dose, mostly chest pain and palpitations. Abnormal ECGs were obtained in 51 (1.0%) of the students, of which 1 was diagnosed with mild myocarditis and another 4 were judged to have significant arrhythmia. None of the patients needed to be admitted to hospital and all these symptoms improved spontaneously. Using these five students as a positive outcome, the sensitivity and specificity of this screening method were 100% and 99.1%, respectively. However, due to the benign course, the cost and benefit needed to be judged.