AstraZeneca vaccine review includes new symptoms to watch out for

The AstraZeneca vaccine is “Safe and efficient” and its “benefits of fighting COVID-19 continue to outweigh the risk of side effects.” This is how the European Medicines Agency (EMA) ruled the review, answering questions about adverse events.

With the details provided by the Community authority – in addition to the resumption of its application after the suspensions for cases of “risk of blood clots” -, From the new Anglo-Swedish Developmental Assessment comes a new brochure detailing side effects and other relevant information.

The details of the recommendations an invitation to see a doctor in the event of “difficulty in breathing, pain in the chest or stomach, swelling or numbness of an arm or leg”.

EMA, which rules out this vaccine’s link to thrombosis, reported other symptoms What “Severe headache or blurred vision after vaccination, persistent bleeding, multiple small bruises, reddish or purplish spots, or blood blisters under the skin.”

Thrombosis associated with certain medical conditions

According to the findings, the European Medicines Agency ruled out that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is linked to increased risks of serious blood clotting events. In its report, the EMA safety committee found that 496 thromboembolic events were reported among the vaccinated population, less than expected in the general population.. The situation is somewhat different for some “very rare” episodes that have occurred recently: 7 cases of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and 18 cases of clots in the blood vessels draining the brain (CVST). In Italy, three episodes of the latter category have been reported (7 in Germany, 2 in Norway, one in Spain, 3 in the United Kingdom and 2 in India).

In this sense, the EMA did not rule out the relationship with a particular type of blood clot image. The agency said “disseminated intravascular coagulation”, which, in rare cases, can lead to “cerebral venous thrombosis”, due to the occlusion of a vein in the brain. This atypical thrombosis occurs in patients diagnosed with blood cancers or in women with “estrogen progestogen”.

After analyzing all the reports, there was an increase in episodes in young women (under 55) not seen in the older population and the EMA did not rule out a link between these cases and the vaccine. However, these are few cases and the observation time is too short. Statistically, the “bias” can be significant.

The other “recommendations”

Among the details, after the press conference of the evaluators of the European agency, it was pointed out that These symptoms described are infrequent, nonspecific, and some common in normal vaccine reactions.

Another point refers to the anticoagulant therapy also effective for these conditions. For experts, care should be taken if a patient exhibits these symptoms, a personal and family history of thrombotic events, data that would be of great help.

The studies will continue, but the EMA estimates that “Patients should be aware of the remote possibility of these syndromes.” For this reason, although it did not establish any correlation, it was decided to update the product information. Also to warn citizens that in case of certain symptoms, they should immediately consult a doctor.

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