An MSNBC anchor revealed in a recent segment that she was hospitalized in December with a heart infection, which caused her to miss about a month of work.
Yasmin Vossoughian said the health scare began on Dec. 20 when she began experiencing chest pains that were “on and off for a period of 10 days.” Those pains “got progressively worse” over the next few days, she added.
The presenter, who hosts a weekend program on the Left Network, said she went to the emergency room on Dec. 30 and was told she had acid reflux. A day later, she woke up with severe chest pain and pain in her left shoulder, which led her to believe she was suffering from a heart attack.
Vossoiughian, 44, said she went to the emergency room. Doctors diagnosed her with pericarditis, or inflammation of the lining of the heart. They claimed it was caused by “a literal cold,” she said.
She added that she doesn’t smoke, runs several miles a week, practices yoga, doesn’t eat meat, and drinks occasionally. “I’m a pretty healthy person,” she said.
After being hospitalized, she spent several days there before being released on Jan. 4, Vossoiughian said.
“But that wasn’t the end… three days later I was admitted again when I felt a fluttering sensation in my heart like a butterfly,” she said. Doctors then told her she had developed myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and she spent another five days in the hospital.
Vossoiughian then said it was “just the cold that did it… all the inflammation in and around my heart.”
Speculation
With Vossoiughian’s confirmation that she was suffering from pericarditis and myocarditis, there was widespread speculation on social media that it may have been caused by a COVID-19 vaccine or booster. The MSNBC host made no mention of COVID-19 or vaccines during her segment, and she said her doctors blamed the common cold virus.
Both pericarditis and myocarditis are considered side effects of mRNA vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, according to the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But according to Johns Hopkins University, myocarditis, while rare, can be caused “by an infection in the body,” including the common cold, flu, and COVID-19. Bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections can also lead to myocardial inflammation.
The Myocarditis Foundation, meanwhile, says “viral infections are the leading cause of myocarditis,” but notes that “a wide variety of infections, diseases, and substances can cause this condition.”
And the UK’s National Health Service says that “pericarditis often follows a viral infection, such as a sore throat or a cold.”
In 2021, Vossoiughian wrote on social media that she was fully vaccinated for COVID-19. “We’re both vaccinated…that was confirmed for this photo!” she said in April of that year. Comcast’s NBCUniversal also directed that its employees, including those who work at MSNBC, receive the vaccine before returning to office in early 2022.
Later in the segment, the MSNBC host called her doctor, Dr. Greg Katz, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Hospital, for an interview. Vossoiughian asked him about anecdotal claims that more and more people now suffer from pericarditis and myocarditis.
“Maybe the season is more virus-heavy. Maybe our immune systems are different because we’re masking and social distancing,” Katz said. claimed, adding that “no one knows why this is so.”