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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Doctors are finding some people have a rare blood disease after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The disorder is called thrombocytopenia and usually causes easy bruising, rashes, and excessive bleeding following a minor injury.
So how concerned should people be? News 8 asked Dr Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health, to step in.
Gillis: Some people develop a blood disease after being vaccinated against the coronavirus. What is this blood disease and how could it be related to the vaccine?
Doehring: We are talking about thrombocytopenia, which is a low platelet count and is certainly not uncommon with different types of vaccines – even different types of viral diseases. We don’t see it much. But sometimes we see a patient developing it and the rashes that can come with it.
Gillis: And is this also seen in other types of viruses or other types of conditions?
Doehring: Yes. So when the body reacts to viruses of all different types, some patients can develop an autoimmune reaction that lowers the number of platelets and this is what you sometimes see with COVID. But that’s rare with the vaccine.
However, sometimes it is not clinically apparent and you can only take it on a blood test. But sometimes it manifests as a rash on the skin – what we call petechiae which are little punctate spots on the skin. They are classic for this condition.
Gillis: Dr Doehring, you mentioned the platelet count. What is a platelet and how does it affect the body?
Doehring: So your blood is made up of a number of different components including red blood cells, white blood cells, antibodies, plasma, and platelets, and platelets help with clotting, which means they help your body to stop bleeding when you cut yourself.
Gillis: So if we don’t have these platelets, we might be at risk for further bleeding and possibly hemorrhaging?
Doehring: Yes. Sometimes you will see people who have low platelet count beyond a certain threshold where their gums may start to bleed when they brush their teeth or you may get this rash on your skin because you have bleeding capillaries in the skin – that’s what this rash is. Your pads are there all the time. They are ready to stop the bleeding by forming a clot and when they get too low you may start to see these spontaneous manifestations of low platelets.
Gillis: You mention these rashes … and I was reading a case where a woman was not sure what was going on and she saw bruises. Is this something we could do with this?
Doehring: This is also part of it. Easy bruising, bleeding gums and that petechiae rash – these are just some of the ways you would see it come on spontaneously. But with a lot of patients with low platelet counts, it doesn’t cause any kind of manifestation that you can see. So you will often find it in blood tests, especially in sicker patients and in the hospital – it would be more common for them than for people who do not have a serious illness.
Gillis: So, is this something that could have been a problem in advance that is not related to the vaccine? And what do you think about the link between the vaccine and this blood disease?
Doehring: Anything that can trigger your immune system’s reaction, whether it’s a vaccine or an actual virus, and certainly a number of viruses, can cause this same type of reaction in your body – c It’s certainly something that shows – but, again, it’s not really common. We don’t see it very often and again luckily in those limited cases that we see it’s pretty rare, especially since it would become something of concern or clinically significant.
Gillis: Okay. We don’t necessarily know if this is permanent or transient. Or, you say it could be temporary.
Doehring: Usually it is temporary and can be treated with steroids and sometimes if the risk of bleeding increases you can give platelet transfusions. But again, these are really rare and only for patients who are really sick and need to be hospitalized.
Gillis: I know people are hyper-aware after getting the vaccine just knowing that there might be side effects after the vaccinations. And you mentioned that it can only be detected by blood. So when does it come to a point where a person should go to their doctor and have this blood test just to make sure nothing is right? Or if something happens?
Doehring: Particularly with the two COVID vaccines currently in use in the United States … the federal government has implemented web-based tracking and surveillance systems. So anyone who is getting a vaccine is encouraged to go online so that they can report any issue they are having and definitely something serious or bothersome … they should let their doctor know and get a proper assessment and that is severe rash, high fevers or a number of other things.
I think because of the EUA (emergency use authorization) the government has put in place these elements of reporting and surveillance to help us understand what is really going on as we vaccinate dozens of people. millions of Americans.
Gillis: Well, the governing body that people can report their symptoms to… I mean it may or may not be related or linked to the COVID-19 vaccine. It could just be something that happened or it could be the result of medication they took. However, it is still very important to point this out.
Doehring: You are exactly right. There are other autoimmune-type illnesses that can occur with vaccines and viruses. Guillain Barre syndrome is something that affects the nervous system.
Well, the flu shot has been linked with Guillain Barre, but it’s associated with a seventeenth of the actual flu rate. So in a way you can say that the vaccine protects against Guillain Barre syndrome, but some people who get the vaccine develop Guillain Barre syndrome. This is where it gets a little confusing. But overall, we believe that vaccinating people against these common viruses actually lowers the risk of a lot of these things. But again, you might see it as a result of a vaccine.
News 8 medical journalist Dr. Mary Elizabeth Gillis, D.Ed., is a classically trained medical physiologist and biobehavioral researcher. She has been a journalist specializing in health, medicine and science for more than 5 years. His work has been featured in national media. You can follow her on Facebook @DrMaryGillis.
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