Australians are being urged to be informed, but not alarmed, about a very rare blood clotting condition linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, following the death of a 52-year-old woman in New South Wales.
Key points:
A 52-year-old woman died from a blood clot likely linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine
Doctors insist the blood clotting condition is very rare
They say a lot has been learned about how to diagnose and treat the condition
The medical regulator said the woman died after developing a severe form of the syndrome with a blood clot in the brain, in what it said was "likely to be linked" to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
It is the second death believed to be linked to the vaccine in Australia, after a 48-year-old woman died earlier this year.
"I think it's understandable that people are nervous when they hear this news," haematologist Associate Professor Sant-Rayn Pasricha said.
"But what's important to remember is of course that COVID-19 is a horrific infection and that the [blood clot] condition remains rare.
"And there are ways that we can diagnose and treat it that make it more likely that people will do well, even if they were to develop it."
Associate Professor Pasricha, a division head at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, said doctors had learned an "amazing" amount about the rare blood clotting condition in a short period of time.
"Patients with this condition may develop symptoms such as headaches, abdominal pain or other new symptoms, usually between four days and three to four weeks after the vaccination," he said.
"Once they come to hospital, we know how to screen for this with a simple blood test and then we know how to go on to image the patients to look for blood clots which may have occurred.
"And it can be treated with different types of blood thinners and immune medicines such as immunoglobulins."
Blood clots still extremely rare, experts say
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said more than 3.6 million AstraZeneca doses had been administered across the country and that the risk of developing the blood clotting condition was very low.
"This remains an extremely rare event to get these serious clots but when they happen, as we've seen in this case, it can have tragic circumstances," he said.
"So my heart certainly goes out to the family and to all the friends and colleagues of this particular person."
Haematologist Professor Huyen Tran said people who had been vaccinated should be aware of possible signs of the condition so they could be assessed as soon as possible.
"I think it's important at the moment that we say that even though it's rare, that we still need to remind doctors and the community, those who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, of the symptoms associated with each of these clots," he said.
"It's not to alarm them. But if it's persisting or if it's severe, something that they don't normally have in the past, then they absolutely should go and seek medical attention and go see their doctor to have it properly assessed."
The TGA said anyone who had been vaccinated should seek "immediate medical attention" if they developed any of the following symptoms after their shot:
- severe or persistent headache or blurred vision
- shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling or persistent abdominal pain
- unusual skin bruising and/or pinpoint round spots beyond the site of vaccination
The TGA revealed there had been 48 cases of the blood clotting condition following an AstraZeneca vaccine, classed as either "confirmed" or "probable".
Of those, 31 people had been discharged from hospital and were recovering while 15 patients remained in hospital, one of whom was critically ill in intensive care.
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2021-06-10 14:42:23Z
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