Vaccines would make our hearts more fragile. At least that’s what one Internet user claims on a Facebook post. According to her, a “certain vaccine” is believed to be the cause of the increase in the number of cases of heart failure. “If it’s not vaccines then maybe it’s global warming?she then says ironically.
Source of cancer, health problem, lab-created virus, conspiracy, etc. Many beliefs and concerns related to vaccination have been reinforced following the Covid-19 epidemic. The movement against the vaccine pass brought together thousands of protesters in France in 2022, calling for a fight against the “health dictatorship” established by the government.
Among the concerns related to vaccination, it would cause, for example, heart failure. There would have been a “explosion of cases” of this chronic disease following vaccination, according to Internet users.
The source of this information comes, according to the Facebook post, from a Figaro article. It states that cases of heart failure are increasing, however, no mention is made of vaccines. According to the article, given “of harmful lifestyle habits, such as smoking, a sedentary lifestyle or poor diet, its incidence is increasing year by year among those under 55”.
The post also refers to an awareness campaign by Health Insurance: “Heart failure: better information for better detection”.
1.5 million French people
There campaign in question was launched by Health Insurance in September 2024 with the aim of combating this common and little-known disease.
It is stated that heart failure touche today “1.5 million French people” and more particularly the elderly. According to Public Health France, until 10% people aged 70 and over are affected by it.
The four warning signs of this disease are unusual shortness of breath, rapid weight gain, swelling and excessive fatigue. These are symptoms that are considered common to old age, which makes it difficult to identify: “In France, between 400,000 and 700,000 people suffer from it without knowing it.”.
The development of the disease is also worrying, since‘after health insurance’it may increase “by 25% every four years”due to the aging of the population. The number of people affected by the disease has therefore indeed increased. However, vaccines (or their role in increasing cases of heart failure) are not mentioned in this campaign.
Are vaccines really a risk?
Diane Bandon-Tourret, lawyer, directs a team dedicated to the health industries. She explains that In the Public Health Code, it is provided that the evolution of a product placed on the market is monitored. “The studies that are being conducted will allow for monitoring of adverse effects. If these are confirmed, the drug’s leaflet will be modified so that patients are aware of potential side effects.s.”
The adverse effects of a product are then mirrored with its benefits (benefit-risk ratio), which explains why some products are withdrawn from the market. The Ministry of Health states in an article that ““Devices must achieve the performance claimed by the manufacturer and their possible risks must be acceptable in relation to the benefits provided to the patient.”.
“For the Covid vaccine, researchers estimated that the benefits of the product were greater than the risksexplains Diane Bandon-Tourret. A follow-up was then put in place to ensure that there was no reversal of the report.“
In the context of Covid, very early studies were carried out to monitor the adverse effects of the vaccine, “especially on at-risk populations”the lawyer specifies. “That’s when there were a lot of reports about cardiac effects (especially the myocarditis and pericarditis). Studies have shown that although very rare and controlled, these side effects do exist. They are included in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC), and the leaflets.”
The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products actually indicates in the RCP of the mRNA vaccine that it carries risks of myocarditis and pericarditis. The French Society of Cardiology also confirms this fact: “Vaccines are a known but rare cause of myocarditis, considering the size of the population at risk.”.
Although some vaccines can cause heart problems, these side effects are listed in the package insert, and heart failure is not one of them. The increase in the number of people affected by this disease is therefore not due to vaccination.
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