Autopsy findings of post-COVID-19 vaccination deaths in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, 2021.
Leg Med (Tokyo)
; 59: 102134, 2022 Nov.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1996409
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
COVID-19 vaccines have been used across Japan since 17 February 2021, and as of 17 April 2022, 1690 deaths potentially caused by vaccine-related adverse effects have been reported to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. However, the causal relationship between vaccination and death could not be fully evaluated because of a lack of sufficient information.METHODS:
Autopsy cases in which deaths occurred within seven days after COVID-19 vaccination in Tokyo Metropolis and were handled by medical examiners were selected (n = 54). Age, sex, vaccine-related information, cause of death, and possible causal relationship between vaccination and death were examined.RESULTS:
The mean age of the deceased individuals was 68.1 years, and the study sample consisted of 34 males (63.9%) and 20 females (37.0%). Thirty-seven and six individuals received Comirnaty and Spikevax, respectively (68.5% and 11.1% respectively). The manner of death included natural (n = 43), non-natural (n = 8), and undetermined (n = 3). The most frequent cause of death was ischemic heart disease (n = 16). Regarding causal relationships, 46 cases (85.2%) did not show a causal relationship to vaccination, except for myocarditis (n = 3), thrombosis-related death (n = 4), and others (n = 1).CONCLUSION:
Although many cases of deaths after COVID-19 vaccination in this study showed no definite causal relationship between the vaccination and deaths, some cases showed possible adverse events such as myocarditis. Autopsies are essential for detecting vaccine-related deaths, and the Japanese death investigation system needs to be reinforced from this viewpoint.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Myocarditis
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
Topics:
Long Covid
/
Vaccines
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Leg Med (Tokyo)
Journal subject:
Jurisprudence
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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