Rhabdomyolysis after BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in an adolescent male

Murat Sutcu¹, Doruk Gul², Fatih Atik³, Manolya Kara⁴

1. Istinye University Faculty of Medicine, Bahcesehir Liv Hospital, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey
2. Istinye University Faculty of Medicine, Bahcesehir Liv Hospital, Pediatric, Istanbul, Turkey
3. Istinye University Faculty of Medicine, Bahcesehir Liv Hospital, Pediatric Cardiology, Istanbul, Turkey
4. Istinye University Faculty of Medicine, Ulus Liv Hospital, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey

*Corresponding Author: Manolya Kara; manolya_kara@yahoo.com

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 (BNT162b2) conferred a high level of protection against Covid-19 with a proven short-term safety profile. Although cases of vaccine-associated myopericarditis have been reported, the existence of rhabdomyolysis without myocarditis has not yet been published. A 16-year-old, healthy male patient, who did not use any herbal or illegal drugs before, was admitted with muscle pain that developed after the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine. Cardiac examination and heart enzymes were normal and the patient had significantly higher creatinine kinase levels. The patient, whose enzymes returned to normal with only force hydration therapy, recovered without
complications. Reporting the side effects of the vaccine, which has a short history of application to large populations, is of vital importance in the conduct of vaccine development studies and in identifying the risky group in terms of side effects.