The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

AstraZeneca covid vaccine: How common are blood clots?

2021-04-09T11:13:42.882Z


Regulators have clarified some questions about the AstraZeneca vaccine, but raised others. Here are the answers to some of them.


You have to get a vaccine that is available, says doctor 2:57

London (CNN) -

After weeks of speculation about whether the Oxford / AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine could be linked to dozens of reported cases of blood clots in the region, European drug regulators have now announced that there is a possible link.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) stopped short of changing its guidance on how the vaccine is used, arguing that the overall benefits still outweigh the risks, while some European countries are restricting the use of the injection only to older age groups.

On the same day, UK authorities also confirmed the link, emphasizing that the benefits of the AstraZeneca injection outweighed its risk overall, but took a different course of action for people under the age of 30, advising they get vaccinated. different, if available.

Regulators have clarified some questions about the AstraZeneca vaccine, but raised many others.

Here are the answers to some of them.

What are the risks of receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine?

EMA concluded Wednesday that the vaccine had caused an unusual combination of blood clots with low platelet counts in dozens of people.

He had analyzed 62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), which clots in the sinuses that drain blood from the brain.

And 24 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis, or clotting in the abdomen, in people who had received the injection as of March 22.

Of those cases, reported in an area where about 25 million people had received the AstraZeneca vaccine at the time, 18 were fatal.

advertising

EMA said these severe blood clotting events were reported at a rate of about 1 in 100,000.

Without age and sex data, it is not known whether the risk is higher or lower for particular groups, he said.

The overall rate could also shift up or down, as more people are vaccinated and a clearer picture emerges.

In the UK, there were reports of 79 serious blood clots along with low platelet counts.

Nineteen of those people died on March 31, the country's Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.

Some of these deaths may have already been calculated in the earlier EMA analysis.

In terms of blood clotting events with low platelet counts, the overall risk is around 1 in 250,000, considering that around 20 million people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK.

Considering that clots appear to be infecting younger people and women in greater numbers, the risk may be higher once the data is narrowed down to specific groups.

Are clots more common in women?

The number of reported blood clots is relatively small and the data on them is limited, making it difficult to draw conclusions about who is most likely to suffer from side effects.

EMA Safety Committee Chair Sabine Straus said the majority of cases so far have occurred in women under the age of 60, but cautioned that the agency did not have enough data based on age and sex to be sure of particular risk profiles.

The agency cannot be sure, for example, that women are not experiencing these clotting events in greater numbers simply because more women are being vaccinated.

But it also means that he hasn't ruled out the possibility that women are at higher risk.

UK regulators said something similar.

Of the 79 cases that were documented, 51 were women and 28 were men.

But more women have been vaccinated.

Authorities did not present data Wednesday on what they think the incidence of clotting in women might be.

When the EMA says the benefits outweigh the risks, it means that's the case when it looked at the big picture, grouping everyone together regardless of age or gender.

Straus admitted, when challenged by journalists on Wednesday, that the EMA did not have the data to understand the extent to which the benefits could outweigh the risks for particular groups, such as women or younger age groups.

Women are more predisposed to certain clotting events, such as CVST, than men, so a question for further analysis is whether women in particular are experiencing these clotting events at a higher incidence than usual.

LOOK

: AstraZeneca vaccine can cause unusual clots, but drug authority in Europe insists that the benefit is greater

Are younger people more likely to have these clots?

UK health authorities had clearer data on age than gender, saying on Wednesday that there was a slightly higher incidence of these blood clotting events in younger adults compared to older ones.

And when you factor in that Covid-19 is less likely to severely affect younger people, in some scenarios the risks actually outweigh the benefits.

That is why Britain made the decision to give people under 30 years of age alternatives to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

An analysis from the Winton Center for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, shared at the UK government press conference on Wednesday, found that the vaccine was more likely to cause serious harm in people aged 20 to 29 than to avoid that they became so ill that they required intensive care treatment.

For about every three people the vaccine helps prevent the need for intensive care treatment, another four will be seriously harmed by the injection, in a situation where exposure to the virus is low.

As exposure to the virus increases, as will happen when confinement restrictions are loosened, the situation is reversed.

People in this age group are twice as likely to benefit from the vaccine, in terms of avoiding the need for intensive care, as they are from serious harm.

And in a high-exposure situation, let's say, if things were to go back to normal, these benefits would be more than six times greater than these risks.

The potential side effects of blood clotting appear to be less likely in older age groups, in contrast to the growing dangers of covid-19 among older people, according to UK experts.

Their data suggested that for those in their 60s, 0.2 people per 100,000 would be seriously harmed by the vaccine - roughly 2 people in a million.

But for every one of those cases, there would be 70 60-year-olds admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) last month, when the risk of covid-19 was relatively low.

During the UK's second wave peak, that number rises to around 640 ICU admissions for every 60-year-old who experiences complications from the vaccine, according to these data.

As blockages ease, the threat of covid-related complications is likely to increase due to increased transmission, while the threat of dangerous vaccine side effects should remain at the same low level.

MIRA

: Spain suspends the AstraZeneca vaccine for children under 60 years of age

What if I am already at higher risk for blood clots?

Blood clots are common and a significant portion of the population is already more predisposed to developing them as a result of underlying conditions, genetics, lifestyle, or other medications you are taking.

For example, studies estimate that between 3% and 15% of people in Europe have Factor V Leiden, a genetic condition passed down from generation to generation that increases the risk of blood clots.

In the United States, between 5% and 8% of people have one of several genetic risk factors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the blood clots that authorities see as unusual are specific severe clotting around the brain and abdomen, and are accompanied by low blood platelet counts.

This is an unusual combination because platelets generally help the body's blood to clot in a good way, for example to stop bleeding.

High platelet counts and severe clotting generally go hand in hand.

In the UK, regulators said that as a precaution, people 'of any age who are at increased risk of blood clots due to their medical condition' should receive the vaccine 'only if the benefits of protection against covid- 19 outweigh the potential risks ”.

It is already recommended that people talk to their doctor or pharmacist before receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine if they have had bleeding or bruising problems, or if they are taking blood-thinning medications.

If I have received a first dose, should I receive a second?

Unless you've experienced blood clotting after your first dose of AstraZeneca, UK authorities say you should still get your second, while the EMA still advises everyone to inject, with the exception of people with conditions. who have been discouraged.

"Anyone who has not had these side effects should show up for their second dose when called," the MHRA said.

Most cases of blood clotting occurred within two weeks of a person receiving their first dose, EMA said, though there is naturally less evidence about second doses because less have been given.

In the UK, to date, no reports have been received after a second dose.

But again, far fewer second doses have been given.

Still, both agencies say the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks, so the advice is to go ahead with AstraZeneca vaccination appointments unless otherwise noted.

If you have concerns, it is worth talking to your medical provider about it.

EMA also cautions that there is not yet enough data on changing vaccines for your second dose.

Some ongoing trials are investigating the effect of taking two different vaccines.

How do I identify a blood clot?

Regulators have advised that patients be informed of the possible side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, as they would be with any medication or vaccine that carries potential risks.

It is important to remember that mild to moderate side effects are relatively common in the hours and days after the administration of any of the approved COVID-19 vaccines.

For AstraZeneca, these can include injection site tenderness, fatigue, headaches, nausea, chills or a general ill feeling, says the EMA.

One or more of those are very common;

they affect more than one in 10 people, warns the UK MHRA.

It is less common for side effects to last more than a few days, and the EMA advises patients to seek urgent medical attention if, in the weeks after vaccination, they experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, swelling of the the legs, persistent pain in the stomach, neurological symptoms such as severe headaches or blurred vision, or small spots of blood under the skin.

They can be signs of a blood clot or other adverse reaction.

Is the vaccine still safe?

AMLO: I'm going to get vaccinated with AstraZeneca 2:41

The reports of blood clots have added to the information that countries have about the AstraZeneca vaccine, but they have not changed the fundamental conclusion that the injection is saving more lives than it is putting at risk.

As mentioned, in the UK the rate of people who have developed these unusual blood clots with low platelet counts is around 1 in 250,000, or 4 in a million.

"The reported combination of blood clots and low blood platelets is very rare, and the overall benefits of the vaccine in preventing covid-19 outweigh the risks of side effects," the EMA concluded on Wednesday.

Again, this conclusion gives an overview of what is happening, and data from the UK shows that age is a factor worth considering.

Younger people may also want to consider their role in transmitting the virus to older people, who are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill.

LOOK

: The complications of the AstraZeneca vaccine that affected its reputation

Real-world data shows that the vaccine is reducing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.

An analysis by Public Health England estimates that 6,100 deaths were prevented in people aged 70 and over in England until the end of February, after the first weeks of the UK vaccination program.

And a single dose of the injection reduced the risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 by more than 80% in people over the age of 80, and gave up to 73% protection against symptomatic disease, the same agency found last month.

AstraZeneca

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-04-09

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-01-30T10:39:08.085Z
Life/Entertain 2024-01-31T09:11:06.735Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.