INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Doctors discover that some people experience a rare blood disorder after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The disease is called thrombocytopenia and usually causes people to get bruises easily, get rashes and experience excessive bleeding due to a minor injury.
How concerned should people be then? News 8 has asked Dr Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health, to weigh in.
Gillis: Some people develop a blood disorder after getting the coronavirus vaccine. What is this blood disorder and how can it be linked to the vaccine?
Doehring: We refer to thrombocytopenia, which has a low platelet count and is certainly not uncommon with different types of vaccines – even different types of viral diseases. We do not see it much. But sometimes we see that a patient develops it and the rash that may accompany it.
Gillis: And is it also seen in other types of viruses or other types of conditions?
Doehring: Yes. Thus, when the body responds to viruses of different kinds, some patients may develop an autoimmune reaction that lowers the number of platelets, and this is what you sometimes see with COVID. But this is unusual with the vaccine.
Sometimes, however, it is not clinically visible, and you can only pick it up with a blood test. But sometimes it manifests with a rash on the skin – what we call petechiae, these are small spots on the skin. They are classic for this condition.
Gillis: Dr. Doehring, you mentioned platelet count. What is a platelet and how does it affect the body?
Doehring: So, your blood consists of a number of different components, including the red blood cells, the white blood cells, antibodies, plasma and platelets, and the platelets help to clot, which means that it helps your body stop bleeding when you cut .
Gillis: If we do not have these platelets, can we risk more bleeding and maybe bleeding?
Doehring: Yes. Sometimes you see people getting low blood platelets past a certain threshold, where their gums may start to bleed when they brush their teeth, or you may get the skin rash on your skin because you have blood vessels in your skin – that’s what the rash is. Your platelets are there all the time. They are ready to stop bleeding by forming a blood clot and when they become too low you can see the spontaneous manifestations of low platelets.
Gillis: You mention this rash … and I read about one case where a woman was not sure what was going on and that she saw bruises. Is this something we could see with this?
Doehring: It’s also part of it. Easy bruising, bleeding gums and this petechiae rash – these are some of the ways you would see it manifest spontaneously. But in many patients with a low platelet count, it does not cause any manifestation that you can see. You will therefore find it many times during blood tests, especially for patients who are sick and in the hospital; it is more common for them than for people who do not have a serious illness.
Gillis: So is this something that could have been a problem beforehand and that is not related to the vaccine? And what are your thoughts on the connection between the vaccine and this blood disorder?
Doehring: Anything that can make your immune system react, whether a vaccine or a real virus, and certainly any number of viruses can provoke the same reaction in your body – it’s definitely something to see – but again, it’s not really common . We do not see it very often, and fortunately in these limited cases it is quite rare, especially that it would become of some concern or clinical importance.
Gillis: Good. We are not necessarily sure whether it is permanent or short-lived. Or you say it can only be temporary.
Doehring: Usually it is temporary and can be treated with steroids. If the risk of bleeding increases, you may be given platelet transfusions. But again, this is really rare and only for patients who are really sick and need to be admitted to the hospital.
Gillis: I know that people are hyperconscious after getting the vaccine, just because they know that there can be side effects after the vaccinations. And you mentioned that it can only be detected by the blood. So, when does it get to a point where a person has to go see his doctor and do this blood test just to make sure nothing is going on? Or if something is going on?
Doehring: Especially with the two COVID vaccines currently being used in the US … the federal government has put in place some tracking and monitoring systems on the internet. Everyone who gets a vaccine is instructed to make contact so that they can report problems and definitely something that is serious or troublesome … they should let their doctor know and get an appropriate evaluation, and that is the serious result , high fever or any other number of things.
I think because of the EUA (emergency use authorization), the government does have these reporting and monitoring things in place to help us understand what’s really going on while we vaccinate tens of millions of Americans.
Gillis: Well, the governing body to which people can report their symptoms … I mean it’s related to the COVID-19 vaccine, or not. It could just be something that happened or was the result of medication they were using. However, it is still very important to report it.
Doehring: You’re exactly right. There are other conditions that are autoimmune, which can occur with vaccines and viruses. One you usually hear about is something called Guillain Barre Syndrome, and it’s something that affects the nervous system.
The flu vaccine is associated with Guillain Barre, but it holds on to a seventeenth of the actual flu. So you could say that the vaccine protects against Guillain Barre syndrome, but some people who get the vaccine develop Guillain Barre syndrome. This is where it gets a little confusing. But overall, we believe that vaccinating people against these common viruses actually lowers the risk of many of these things. But again, you may see it as a result of receiving a vaccine.
News Elizabeth’s medical reporter, dr. Mary Elizabeth Gillis, D.Ed., is a classically trained medical physiologist and researcher of biobehavior. She has been a reporter on health, medicine and science for over 5 years. Her work has been featured in national media. You can follow her on Facebook @ DrMaryGillis.