At this stage, it is unknown what caused Bronny James’ cardiac arrest. The son of LeBron James, who collapsed while training in Los Angeles with his USC team on Monday, at just 18 years old, is no longer in intensive care and is in “stable” condition, the family said Tuesday. But less than an hour after the announcement of this extremely rare incident, Elon Musk and many antivax had already found the ideal culprit: the anti-Covid vaccine, which can increase the risk of cardiac inflammation, particularly in boys in adolescence.
“We can’t attribute everything to the vaccine, but by the same logic, we can’t attribute nothing to it,” tweeted – or should we say “x-er” now? – Elon Musk. “Myocarditis is a known side effect. The only question is whether they are rare or common. »
The billionaire was flagged by the Twitter community, which made the following correction: “Studies have shown that the risk of myocarditis is significantly higher after a Covid infection than after the vaccine. In adolescent boys, the risk of myocarditis is approximately twice as high after an infection as after the second dose of vaccine. »
A real but extremely rare risk
Elon Musk, who dragged his feet for a long time before getting vaccinated, and regularly relays antivax theses, is not the only one to rush. Charlie Kirk and Emeral Robinson, two figures of the conspiratorial American right, have engaged, as had already been the case after NFL player Damar Tomlin suffered cardiac arrest in the middle of a match last January. In April, the Buffalo player confirmed that in his case, the number one suspect “commotio cordis”, when the heart stops after a violent shock to the chest, an electrical phenomenon that has nothing to do with myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle.
Several studies have confirmed an increased risk of myocarditis for messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. However, this remains extremely rare, with 132 additional cases per million doses administered, according to a study carried out by Health Insurance (Cnam) and the Medicines Agency (ANSM) in 2021, which had not identified any deaths among those affected after vaccination.