Infection as a trigger for cardiovascular disease

A variety of clinical infections including the current pandemic and a variety of physical events such as bee stings and trauma have been documented as triggers of acute cardiovascular illness such as venous thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, and stroke.1–12 A number of factors have been proposed to explain this association between infection and acute cardiovascular disease including activation of various inflammatory molecules and platelets, endothelial dysfunction, and/or augmented sympathetic nervous activity with release of high levels of catecholamines into the circulation.