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More and more countries are reporting cases of blood clots after AstraZeneca vaccines. But how common are these events, what are clots, and how fatal can they be? CNN is doing a data analysis.
The UK Medicines Regulatory Authority says that at least 30 people in Britain have experienced rare blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, but cautioned that it was too early to tell if the vaccine triggered the clots.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MIRA) said in a statement Thursday night that it had received 22 reports of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVST), the formation of blood clots in the vagina that still drain blood from the brain, and a total of 15.8 million people who have received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine before March 21.
The agency advised the UK to continue to administer the vaccine to all age groups, arguing that such cases of clotting are very rare and that the benefits far outweigh the risks, reiterating similar assessments from the European Medicines Agency (MEA) and World Health. Organization (WHO).
But more and more reports of blood clots are coming to light from various countries, especially in Europe, where the AstraZeneca vaccine is widely used. Some countries have even chosen to suspend the use of the vaccine, while others have restricted its use to certain age groups. But what do you need to know about blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine? Below is CNN’s analysis.
In what other countries is something similar happening?
The Netherlands said yesterday it would stop giving the vaccine to people under 60 as a “precautionary measure” after the country’s Medicines Authority reported blood clots in women between the ages of 25 and 65. The country has so far distributed 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
It was followed by Germany, which followed suit on Tuesday after 31 CVST reports. Twenty-nine of the 31 were women between the ages of 20 and 63, and nine of the patients died, according to a Reuters report, citing the country’s Medicines Regulatory Authority.
But at least 2.7 million Germans have been vaccinated with the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which means that CVST cases are still relatively low. Complications have been reported in one in every 100,000 AstraZeneca vaccines, according to the country’s Ministry of Health. It did not specify what the complications were and how serious they were.
As of March 30, 3 deaths had been reported in Norway in people with a combination of blood clots, low platelet counts and bleeding 3 to 14 days after receiving the vaccine, the country’s drug service said. Norway has administered at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to more than 134,000 people. “The Norwegian Medicines Agency believes there is a possible link to the vaccine, but we need more research to find out exactly what causes it,” he said.
Denmark reported two cases of blood clots and low platelet counts after vaccination. One of the cases was fatal.
How can scientists determine if there is a relationship?
One indicator to consider is impact. Blood clots are generally so common that a certain number of people are expected to develop clots for various reasons on any given day of any week. If someone has been vaccinated and later developed a blood clot, this does not necessarily mean that the vaccine caused the clot.
Following reports of blood clots last month, AstraZeneca was quick to point out that the overall incidence of blood clots is lower in people who have received the vaccine than in the general population of countries that have used the vaccine.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson told CNN yesterday: “Patient safety remains a priority for the company” and pointed to recommendations from the UK, EU authorities and WHO for the use of the vaccine.
Of the 15.8 million Britons who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, only 30 developed blood clots.
To get a clearer picture, scientists are looking more specifically at the types of clots listed. The MHRA reports that 15.8 million people have received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK. With 30 cases of CVST or other thrombosis in the UK, the incidence of one of these rare thrombi is 1.89 per million.
“The risk of CVST after this vaccine remains extremely low … and it is unclear if it is higher than the usual expected incidence of CVST,” said David Wering of the UCL Institute of Neurology. He added that the usual incidence of CVST in the UK was probably around 5 to 15 per million each year, but noted that these figures differed due to the difficulty of diagnosing certain cases.
What scientists are focusing on now is the nature of blood clots. Does the data show that some cases of blood clots after vaccination are unusual? features. While these patients do experience blood clots, they do experience unusual symptoms of thrombocytopenia, a low platelet count that generally prevents clotting, as noted by EMA and other health experts.
Experts continue to say that the benefits outweigh the risks, but to what extent?
If one looks at this globally, the answer is: by far.
Consider this: Since the UK began vaccinating people from December 7 to March 21, there have been 30 cases of rare blood clots, four of which were fatal. During the same period, more than 2.5 million people contracted the coronavirus and 63,082 people in the country died from the virus, according to government figures.
“It is vital that the vaccine is not delayed,” said David Spiegelhalter, president of the Winton Risk Center at the University of Cambridge. He even referred to a model that says that even with the current low levels of the virus, delaying vaccination of 500,000 people between 44 and 54 years could lead to around 85 hospitalizations and possibly 5 deaths. However, this dynamic may appear different when data by gender and age are taken into account.
As Spiegelhalter said: “It is important to know if the risk is significantly higher in younger age groups, as has been found in some countries.” Vaccination of young people is done both for the general community and for their immediate benefit so it makes sense to try to avoid them if they cause harm, even if they are rare. ”
However, the coronavirus as a whole had more serious effects on the health of older people. But according to hospital records in many parts of Brazil and the United States, young people are becoming more vulnerable than before. It is not known whether the new variants are reason, behavior, or a combination of many factors.
Are these clots likely to be fatal?
The numbers are so small that it is difficult to draw conclusions about death rates. In Germany, 9 out of 31 CVST cases were fatal. In the UK, there were four.
A team of blood clotting experts examining the possible link between the vaccine and the 9 cases in Germany has said that the presence of low platelet clotting in these people resembles a known blood disorder called thrombocytopenia, which is “treatable if detects immediately “. the experts said in a study plan that has not yet been evaluated. It is a condition that occurs as a side effect of heparin, a blood thinner often used to treat CVST.
Andreas Grinacher of the University of Greifswald presented some of the team’s findings to reporters this week, saying he believed it was a reaction to the vaccine “caused by prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia” or VIPIT. The team even urges medical professionals not to use heparin in patients who develop blood clots if they have received the AstraZeneca vaccine, as the drug could make their condition worse.
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