# Doctors homing in on the cause of blood clots potentially linked with Covid-19 vaccines



## mellowyellow (Apr 16, 2021)

_ 

Doctors say they are homing in on the cause of blood clots that may be linked with certain coronavirus vaccines, and said their findings have important implications for how to treat the condition, regardless of whether vaccines cause it.

Even though the link is not firm yet, they're calling the condition *vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia or VITT. *

It's characterized by unusual blood clotting combined with a low number of blood-clotting cells called platelets. Patients suffer from dangerous clots and, sometimes, hemorrhaging at the same time.

It's been linked most firmly with the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, which is in wide use in Europe and the UK……………………..

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/16/health/blood-clots-vaccine-possible-cause/index.html_


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## Sunny (Apr 17, 2021)

From the same article:

"If vaccines cause it, it's still very rare and unusual, they wrote. It might not even be happening any more often in recently vaccinated people than among the population in general."

They are being very responsible and cautious in pausing the use of that vaccine, just in case. But 6 people getting blood clots out of millions of people who got the vaccine and were just fine doesn't sound like that big a risk to me. And there are lots of other medical conditions that are known to cause blood clots as well.  Atrial fibrillation is one of them. Practically everyone I know in my age group is taking a blood thinner to prevent those clots. 

Just looking at the probabilities, I'd take my tiny little chance on this vaccine rather than taking a much bigger chance of getting Covid.


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## Becky1951 (Apr 17, 2021)

More then just 6 and not just J&J vaccine.

Studies suggest link between blood clots, AstraZeneca COVID vaccine​Two studies today in the _New England Journal of Medicine_ describe 11 patients in Austria and Germany and 5 in Norway who developed an unusual blood clotting disorder after receiving their first dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine.

*Clots form in brain, abdomen*​The first study, led by researchers at the Institute for Immunology and Transfusion Medicine in Greifswald, Germany, involved 11 patients who had abnormal blood clots or thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) 5 to 16 days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

One patient had a fatal intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain), while nine had cerebral venous thrombosis (blood clots in the brain), three had splanchnic vein thrombosis (blood clots in abdominal veins), three had a pulmonary embolism (blockage in a lung artery caused by blood clots), and four had other types of blood clots. Six patients, in addition to the patient with fatal intracranial hemorrhage, died.

Five patients had disseminated intravascular coagulation, a condition in which blood clots form in different parts of the body and block small blood vessels. No patients had received heparin to prevent blood clots before their symptoms began.

Twenty-eight patients from another sample referred for investigation of vaccine-induced abnormal blood clotting tested positive for heparin-induced platelet factor 4 (PF4) thrombocytopenia antibodies, independent of heparin. All of them also tested positive for platelet-activating antibodies.

Platelets are involved in the blood clotting process. The study authors said high levels of heparin, Fc receptor-blocking monoclonal antibody, and immunoglobulin inhibited platelet activation.

Nine of the 11 patients were women, and the median patient age was 36 years (range, 22 to 49).

*Non-heparin blood thinners*​The authors noted that 82 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Europe by Apr 7, with a quarter of all vaccinees in Germany and 30% in Austria receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. Reports of vaccine-induced blood clots began to surface in late February.

The post-vaccine abnormal blood clotting disorder, which resembles one induced by heparin, has been reported in patients not given heparin but taking certain drugs or having viral and bacterial infections. This condition has been termed autoimmune heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, the authors said.

"Unlike patients with classic heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, patients with autoimmune heparin-induced thrombocytopenia have unusually severe thrombocytopenia, an increased frequency of disseminated intravascular coagulation, and atypical thrombotic events," the researchers wrote. "Serum from these patients strongly activate platelets in the presence of heparin…but also in the absence of heparin (heparin-independent platelet activation)."

The researchers said that healthcare providers should be alert for venous or arterial blood clots in unusual sites such as the abdomen or brain in patients 5 to 20 days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

"Given the parallels with autoimmune heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, anticoagulant options should include nonheparin anticoagulants used for the management of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, unless a functional test has excluded heparin-dependent enhancement of platelet activation," the authors concluded.

"Finally, we suggest naming this novel entity vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) to avoid confusion with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia."

*A 'rare vaccine-related variant'*​In the second study, researchers in Norway report on five healthcare workers with venous blood clots in unusual sites and severe thrombocytopenia 7 to 10 days after their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The workers, who were 32 to 54 years old, also had high concentrations of PF4 antibodies but had not received heparin.

Four patients had cerebral venous thrombosis with intracranial hemorrhage, and three died.

All patients had high levels of D-dimer, indicating blood clots. High-dose heparin was given to four patients, successfully inhibiting blood clots in two of them but less efficiently in the other two. The fifth patient received no heparin.

"Collectively, these results suggest that the serum in these patients contained immune complexes with a mixture of antibody specificities similar to those described in the serum of patients with autoimmune heparin-induced thrombocytopenia," the researchers said. "By providing a link between thrombosis and the immune system, these results strengthen the view that vaccination may have triggered the syndrome."

In Norway, as of Mar 20, when AstraZeneca vaccination was paused, 132,686 healthcare workers and nursing home residents had received one dose. No one had received the second dose.

"Because the five cases occurred in a population of more than 130,000 vaccinated persons, we propose that they represent a rare vaccine-related variant of spontaneous heparin-induced thrombocytopenia that we refer to as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia," the authors wrote. "Although rare, VITT is a new phenomenon with devastating effects for otherwise healthy young adults and requires a thorough risk–benefit analysis." 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-per...between-blood-clots-astrazeneca-covid-vaccine

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## StarSong (Apr 17, 2021)

To add a some context: *This past week nearly half a million Americans tested positive for Covid and over 5000 died from it in the US alone*. 
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/weekly-trends/#weekly_table


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## Becky1951 (Apr 17, 2021)

StarSong said:


> To add a some context: *This past week nearly half a million Americans tested positive for Covid and over 5000 died from it in the US alone*.
> https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/weekly-trends/#weekly_table


Yes its bad and seems to be getting worse instead of better as far as infections.

But there are some serious side effects that are a reality and every time I or anyone else posts or comments about them, they seem to be blown off by comments about how serious the virus is. 

I'm not trying to scare anyone or change their minds about being vaccinated, that's a personal choice and non of my business.

But I will not ignore that there are serious side effects popping up here and there.

Yes ALL vaccines have side effects.
Yes the virus is deadly.
For most people its safe so far.

But for some its not safe and can be deadly.

There is nothing wrong with posting the negatives along with the positives when they are found. 

Every article I post includes the statements the benefits outweighs the risks. If I were trying to scare or prevent others from getting the vaccine, I would remove that part and hope no one noticed.


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## StarSong (Apr 17, 2021)

I'm not blowing off the rare serious side effects that pop up here and there, merely reiterating the context and percentages.  After all, if the viruses themselves didn't pose serious threats nobody would develop or bother getting vaccines.


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## Becky1951 (Apr 17, 2021)

StarSong said:


> I'm not blowing off the rare serious side effects that pop up here and there, merely reiterating the context and percentages.  After all, if the viruses themselves didn't pose serious threats nobody would develop or bother getting vaccines.


That was to you personally.


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## Murrmurr (Apr 17, 2021)

I read a couple studies that found a correlation to blood type, ie, people with type O blood far less likely to even get the virus and a miniscule number who had a reaction of any sort to the vaccine. I hope they get the funding to expand this study.


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## StarSong (Apr 17, 2021)

Becky1951 said:


> That was to you personally.


I figured as much.


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## Becky1951 (Apr 17, 2021)

StarSong said:


> I figured as much.


OMG! That was meant to be WASN'T. I'm sorry StarSong, truly never meant it to you personally.


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## Becky1951 (Apr 17, 2021)

Murrmurr said:


> I read a couple studies that found a correlation to blood type, ie, people with type O blood far less likely to even get the virus and a miniscule number who had a reaction of any sort to the vaccine. I hope they get the funding to expand this study.


And type A has a higher risk.


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## Murrmurr (Apr 17, 2021)

Becky1951 said:


> And type A has a higher risk.


The rh factor is significant too, if I remember right.


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## Sunny (Apr 17, 2021)

In that case, I'm glad I got the vaccine, Becky. I'm type A.


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## StarSong (Apr 17, 2021)

Becky1951 said:


> OMG! That was meant to be WASN'T. I'm sorry StarSong, truly never meant it to you personally.


No worries!


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## win231 (Apr 17, 2021)

I'm blood type "DDR"
Diabetic Dark Red.


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## terry123 (Apr 18, 2021)

I see my doctor Thursday for my check up and I plan on discussing with him whether I should get the vaccines.  I want to get it but my history of brain bleeds is on my mind and I want to get it clarified for my situation.


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## Lara (Apr 21, 2021)

I find it disturbing that the Astra Zeneca bottle used for Covid vaccines (pictured in Post#1) has Chinese characters on it. Yes, the one that now may be linked to Blood Clots.

Really? Made in China? Am I the only one that finds this disturbing?

Are ALL the vaccines Made in China? I know masks are, as well as most everything hospitals use.


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## Ruthanne (Apr 21, 2021)

Lara said:


> I find it disturbing that the Astra Zeneca bottle used for Covid vaccines (pictured in Post#1) has Chinese characters on it. Yes, the one that now may be linked to Blood Clots.
> 
> Really? Made in China? Am I the only one that finds this disturbing?
> 
> Are ALL the vaccines Made in China? I know masks are, as well as most everything hospitals use.


Why do you find that disturbing Lara-I don't understand?  I don't know where they are all made but don't believe they are all made in China, I think some were made in Europe, too.


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## Lara (Apr 21, 2021)

My question is: Why are there Chinese characters on the bottle? Maybe this is the connection found in Wikipedia"
"In 2011, AstraZeneca acquired Guangdong BeiKang Pharmaceutical Company, a Chinese generics business.[25]"

This is why it disturbs me:

Dec 2020 (4 months ago...giving China plenty of time to catch up with predictions) Fortune Magazine (and many other sources) say this:

Quote: "China is poised to release their vaccines on the world. AstraZeneca’s woes and the potential distribution limitations of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have left a hole in the global supply that may be filled by Chinese vaccine makers, says Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The U.S.'s apparent success in producing effective COVID-19 vaccines has turned the global race to develop an immunization for the disease into an all-out sprint. Globally, China does not want to be seen as losing in a scientific competition with its chief rival, the U.S. Domestically, China is under pressure to quickly roll out vaccines so it can loosen travel restrictions and cease the cycle of sporadic lockdowns when new outbreaks arise.

"If the U.S. manages to mass produce their vaccines for their populations by say, May, it would make China look bad if they don’t have their population vaccinated," says Huang. "They have strong incentives to get vaccines to their populations as soon as they can."

If and when Sinovac or Sinopharm's (Chinese pharmacies) vaccines come to the market, Thomas says, the next big phase in the vaccine race will be a bifurcation of nations based on which vaccines they seek, China's or ones made by Western countries.
"There is a significant commercial advantage to be gained if the public prefers one manufacturer over another," says Thomas. "The competition at the global level is only just beginning."
Source: https://fortune.com/2020/12/05/china-covid-19-vaccines-approval-sinovac-sinopharm/

The reason I find it disturbing if our vaccines are made in China, many Americans are concerned when drugs are taken off the market because they do us more harm than good due to what's in them especially coming from China. Also, China is where Covid originally was leashed on the world and China's goal is world dominance, controlling population, and having the greatest economy. Unfortunately, China is raking in BIG money as well on all the other medical supplies made in China for this pandemic. It should be about ending the pandemic and saving lives...not a a race for pride, money, power, and other ulterior motives.

**
I


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## StarSong (Apr 21, 2021)

There's no mystery about how to bring drug and other manufacturing back to our shores.  All we have to do is be willing to pay triple (or more) for everything currently manufactured in China, Mexico, Vietnam, India, and other countries with low - or nonexistent - minimum wages, worker protections and environmental protections.


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## Lara (Apr 21, 2021)

What post are you referring to? Who said there's a mystery bringing drugs into the country?


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## mellowyellow (Apr 21, 2021)

Here in Australia, there is a deepening reluctance to present for a vaccine, the damning reports are coming in thick and fast and suspicion is now rife.


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## StarSong (Apr 22, 2021)

Lara said:


> What post are you referring to? Who said there's a mystery bringing drugs into the country?


It was a figure of speech.  I meant that we can easily bring drug manufacturing back, it will just cost a lot more.


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## JonDouglas (Apr 24, 2021)

More info on the clotting issue here:  * S**cientists Find How AstraZeneca Vaccine Causes Clots*


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## Mike (Apr 24, 2021)

AstraZeneca gave the vaccine recipe to all asked for it,
for free, it is made in several countries, it is not made in
the UK, where the formula was devised, our AstraZeneca
vaccine is made in Belgium and Holland.

Mike.


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