At least 36 people have developed a rare, life-threatening blood disorder called thrombocytopenia, after receiving one of the two COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the US.
One of them, dr. Gregory Michael, a midwife in Miami, died after thrombocytopenia dropped his platelets to near zero. He was just 56 and died of a brain haemorrhage just 16 days after receiving the shot from Pfizer.
And doctors ordered Luz Legaspi, 72, not to leave her bed for more than a week, fearing a bump, bruise, fall or other minor injury could lead to a similar bleeding and be fatal to her.
Thrombocytopenia has also been seen after other vaccines, and experts suspect that the shot may be a trigger in some way – they just do not know why.
But so far the platelet-suppressing condition seems extremely rare – affecting only 36 people out of the 43 million doses in the US – and scientists theorize that only a small fraction of the population can have a predisposition to vaccination around the to cause blood. disorder.
Of the 15 people admitted in an upcoming study, only one has had a low platelet count recently, and there were no clear general threads predicting who is the least likely to develop thrombocytopenia after vaccination.
But with the exception of Dr. Michael, all the others have recovered so far after the treatment.
Dr Gregory Michael, 56, died of a brain haemorrhage due to thrombocytopenia 16 days after receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine (left). Luz Legaspi (72) developed the rare blood disorder a day after her first ingestion of Moderna’s vaccine and had to be put on total bed rest to prevent a potentially fatal hemorrhage (right)
The US gives about 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccines a day and only 36 people have developed thrombocytopenia
The vast majority of people who received COVID-19 vaccines did so without incident.
Between the start of the US coronavirus vaccine on December 14 and January 31, according to the New York Times, 36 reports were made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s monitoring system of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).
The database records that incidents are observed by doctors and nurses after people have been vaccinated, but it does not determine whether vaccines were the cause of the reported problems, known as ‘adverse events’.
No cases of thrombocytopenia were reported during the trials of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.
Since it is powerful, cases have been linked to each vaccine.
Pfizer told DailyMail.com that he was investigating the death of Dr. Michael, a midwife whose wife was in good health before his death in December.
“I think his death was 100 percent linked to the vaccine. There is no other explanation, ‘she said in an interview with DailyMail.com last month.
Dr Michael received his first dose of Pfizer’s shot on 18 December and had no immediate reaction to the shot.
But three days later he noticed red spots all over his body.
The spots stained in his body were petechiae, which had warning signs of bleeding under the skin.
He went to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. During his exams, Dr. Michael got up and stayed energetic.
But blood work showed that his platelet count – disc-shaped cell fragments that form blood clots to prevent uncontrolled bleeding – was zero, his wife said.
Anything under 150,000 would qualify as thrombocytopenia, but dr. Michael’s condition was dire.
Transfusions and other attempts to repair his platelets failed during his two weeks in the hospital, and Dr Michael eventually died of a brain haemorrhage.
Luz Legaspi, 72, was healthy and all ready for vaccination in January, when she received her first dose of Moderna.
But the next day she wakes up and finds her legs and arms covered with petechiae, and bleeding blisters in her mouth, according to the New York Times.
She was admitted to the hospital in Elmhurst, Queens, New York City.
At the time, the number of platelets from Legaspi was zero and she was ordered not to leave her bed to prevent her from falling or injuring herself. Even a normally harmless bruise can lead to bleeding if someone does not have platelets to stop the bleeding.
In adults, thrombocytopenia can be caused by one-marrow diseases, some cancer treatments and alcoholism.
But some forms are also the result of an autoimmune condition, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy platelets instead of legal threats and pathogens. Occasionally, thrombocytopenia develops after viral infections.
In these cases, platelet transfusions are usually treated with steroids and immunoglobulins – a treatment designed to prevent the spleen from destroying platelets, as is the case with thrombocytopenia.
Legaspi received these treatments but still did not improve ten days after she was admitted to the hospital.
Michael’s wife, Heidi Neckelman (left), said her husband’s death was “due to a strong reaction” to the vaccine. In the photo: dr. Michael with his wife Heidi and daughter
“I do not think she understands that she is like a ticking bomb,” her daughter, who did not disclose her name at her employer’s request, told the Times on the ninth day of Legaspi’s hospital.
‘I do not use the term. I do not want to tell her that. ‘
It is noteworthy that a leading expert on the rare condition got the wind of Legaspi’s serious and stagnant condition and contacted her doctor in Elmhurst.
Dr. James Bussel, a pediatrician and expert in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), which most commonly occurs in children, has suggested a change of course, although the specific treatment he recommended is not clear.
Within two days, the number of platelets from Legaspi was more than 70,000 and she was able to return home the next day, February 2.
Dr. Bussel and his colleague, Dr. Eun-Ju Lee, studied 15 cases of thrombocytopenia that developed after people received COVID-19 vaccines.
Their article is still being reviewed for publication in a medical journal.
But he told the Times that there could be a link, not only to COVID-19 vaccines, but also more generally to vaccines, it just’s not exactly clear what.
‘It is known after a vaccine, and it has been seen with many other vaccines. We do not know why this is happening, ‘said Dr Bussel.
‘I think it is possible that there is an association.
“I assume there is something that makes people who develop thrombocytopenia susceptible, given how small a percentage of recipients they are.”
Dr Bussel, and even Luz Legaspi and her daughter, say that people should still get the COVID-19 vaccine, and for most, thrombocytopenia is not a problem.
Nevertheless, Dr. Bussel, his colleagues and both Pfizer and Moderna are trying to find out who may have this life-threatening reaction, so they can advise these people to get the vaccine, as US officials have done for people with a history of anaphylactic reactions. to any ingredients in the shots.
