Death of doctor after receiving Covid vaccine under investigation

Ms Neckelmann said she told her husband’s story to educate people about the possible ‘side effects’ of the vaccine, and’ that it’s not good for everyone, and in this case it destroyed a great life, a perfect family and has affected so many people. people in the community. “

Dr. Jerry L. Spivak, an expert in blood disorders at Johns Hopkins University who was not involved in Dr. Michael’s care, said that based on Ms. Neckelmann’s description, “I think it is It is medical certainty that the vaccine was related. “

“It’s going to be very rare,” said Dr. Spivak, professor emeritus of medicine. But he added: “It happened and it could happen again.”

Even so, he said, it shouldn’t stop people from getting vaccinated.

The disease developed by Dr. Michael, acute immune thrombocytopenia, occurs when the immune system attacks the patient’s platelets or attacks the cells in the bone marrow that produce the platelets. Covid itself can cause illness in some patients.

A long list of medications, including quinine and some antibiotics, can also cause the disorder in some people. Dr Spivak described the reactions as “idiosyncratic,” meaning they hit certain individuals for no rhyme or reason, possibly based on unknown genetic traits, and there is no way to predict whether anyone one is sensitive.

“If you vaccinate enough people, things will happen,” he said.

Vaccines stimulate the immune system and, in theory, could, in rare cases, cause it to mistakenly identify some of a patient’s own cells as enemy invaders that should be destroyed.

Dr Spivak said several things made the vaccine the most likely suspect in Dr Michael’s case. The disorder appeared soon after the gunshot and was so severe that it caused his platelet count to “explode” – a pattern like that in some cases caused by drugs like quinine. In addition, Dr. Michael was healthy and young, compared to most people who develop chronic forms of the disease from other causes. Finally, most of the patients – 70% – are women. A sudden case in a man, especially a relatively young and healthy case, suggests a recent outbreak.