CDC calls 'emergency meeting' on vaccine heart inflammation cases

June 11 (UPI) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called an emergency meeting June 19 to discuss heart inflammation following COVID-19 vaccination.

The pending discussion comes after the number of heart inflammation cases analyzed by CDC researchers was found to have exceeded expectations.

The CDC identified 226 patients suffering from myocarditis and pericarditis -- both of which are known to be cause by viral infections -- subsequent to being vaccinated.

Of those, the CDC reported 15 are currently hospitalized, three are in intensive care and 41 had ongoing symptoms. Reports of heart inflammation were among vaccinated first reported by Israel and the Department of Defense earlier this year.

Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, a CDC vaccine safety official, said it is too early to make any determinations on the risk.

"It's a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison because, again, these are preliminary reports. Not all these will turn out to be true myocarditis or pericarditis reports," Shimabukuro said, according to CBS News.

Nearly 130 million of those living in the United States have been fully vaccinated.

The CDC has also reported higher than expected heart inflammation rates in those aged 16 to 24 who received the vaccine.

In that instance the CDC said it was looking into 475 reported cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in those under the age of 30.

The CDC reports in the rare cases in which complications arise heart inflammation lasts a day or two in most cases and often begins within four days of full vaccination.