Recently, there has been an outbreak of suspicion in Europe that the AZ vaccine may trigger blood clots in vaccine recipients. In response, two research teams from Norway and Germany have independently identified a potential relationship and mechanism between the vaccine and blood clots, and have proposed possible treatment options.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Norwegian and German teams found that the AZ vaccine may trigger a rare autoimmune response that leads to thrombosis of the cerebral venous sinuses. Pål André Holme, professor of hematology and chief physician at Oslo University Hospital (Norway), said, “Only the vaccine can explain why patients develop this type of immune response.”
Andreas Greinacher, professor of transfusion Medicine at the Greifswald University Clinic in Germany, has come to the same conclusion. Greinacher said the chances of such complications are quite low and medically curable.
The German research team warned that if symptoms of headache, dizziness or loss of vision occur within four days after vaccination, the patient should seek medical treatment as soon as possible, as blood tests can quickly diagnose whether the patient has a blood clot.
The German Society for Thrombosis and Hemostasis Research has reviewed the study presented by Grenacel. Dr. Robert Klamroth, vice president of the society, said doctors are advised to treat patients with anticoagulants and immunoglobulins if they develop a blood clot after administering the vaccine.
Klamroth said the current possible hypothesis is that the vaccine may trigger a rare autoimmune response, which in turn triggers antibody-platelet interactions. However, the study has not yet been peer-reviewed, and Greinercher plans to submit the findings to the journal The Lancet in the near future.
After the AZ vaccine was introduced in Europe, more than 30 people were diagnosed with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), most of them women under the age of 55. Several European countries announced a moratorium on the AZ vaccine, but after the European Medicines Agency ruled that the benefits of the AZ vaccine “outweighed the harms,” many countries have resumed administration.
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