AdverseReaction

Why was no one warnedthatimmune
thrombocytopeniais a reactionto the COVID vaccine?
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By Denise Grady
Feo. 8. 2021 Updated 5:07p.m. ET
Covid Vaccine Recipients
Developed a Rare Blood Disorder
One day afterreceivingher firstdose of Moderna’s Covid vaccine,
Luz Legaspi, 72, woke up withbruiseson her arms and legs, and
blistersthatbled inside her mouth.
She was hospitalizedin New York City thatday, Jan. 19, witha
severe case of immune thrombocytopenia— a lack of platelets,a
blood componentessentialforclotting.
The same conditionled to the deathin January of Dr, Gregory
Michael. 56, an obstetricianin Miami Beach whosesymptoms
appeared threedays afterhe receivedthe Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine. Treatmentsfailed to restorehis platelets,and aftertwo
weeks in the hospitalhe died froma brain hemorrhage.
“I thinkit is possible thatthereis an association,” Dr. James Bussel,
a hematologistand professoremeritusat Weill Cornell Medicine
who has writtenmore than300scientificarticleson the platelet
disorder,said in an interview.“I’m assumingthere’s somethingthat
made the people who developed thrombocytopeniasusceptible,
given whata tinypercentageof recipientstheyare.”
He added: “Having it happen aftera vaccine is well-knownand has
been seen withmany othervaccines. Why it happens, we don’t
know.”
Ms. Legaspi was strongand in good healthbeforereceivingthe
Modemavaccine. But when she was admittedto the cityhospital
in Elmhurst,Queens, her plateletcountwas zero. Normal readings
range from150,000to 450,000,and anythingunder 10,000is
consideredvery dangerousand in urgentneed of treatment.
DoctorsorderedMs. Legaspi to noteven get outof bed without
help, forfear thatif she fell and injuredherselfshe could
hemorrhage.They began giving her the standardtreatments,
includingplatelettransfusionsalong withsteroidsand immune
globulinsmeantto stopher immune system’s waron her platelets.
Nothingworked.Her plateletswouldrise a bit and thencrash
again betweentreatments.
As the days passed withno progress,Ms. Legaspi’s daughter,
awareof Dr. Michael’s death, worriedincreasinglythather mother
wouldsuffera brain hemorrhage.
“I don’t thinkshe understandsshe’s like a tickingbomb,” the
daughtersaid in an interviewon Jan. 28, afterher motherhad been
in the hospitalformore thanweek withno improvement.“I don’t
use the term.I don’t wantto tell her that.”
Dr. Gregory Michael
Ms, LegaipL
Anothervaccine recipient,Sarah C., 48, a teacherin Arlington,Tex.,
receivedthe Modernavaccine on Jan. 3. She asked thather full
name notbe used to protecther privacy.
Two weeks later,she began to have heavy vaginal bleeding. After
twodays she saw her obstetrician,who orderedblood workand
scheduledothertests.A fewhourslater,he called and urged her to
go straighto the emergencyroom. He was stunnedand hoped it
was a lab error,buther blood countshowedzero platelets.She had
had a checkupwithcompletelynormalblood-testresultsless than
a week beforebeing vaccinated.
The reading of zero plateletswas nota lab error.The resultswere
confirmedin the emergencyroom, and doctorstherealso noticed
red spotson her wristsand ankles, caused by hemorrhagesunder
the skin. Sarah C. had seen the spots,butignoredthem.
She spentfourdays in the hospital,receivingplatelettransfusions,
immune globulinsand steroidsto restoreher plateletcount.
She describedthe experienceas terrifying.“Especially when
people say they’d never seen thisbefore,thatyou could bleed out
or hemorrhage,” she said. “That was the biggestconcern,and just
notknowing.The gentlemanin Florida, he didn’t make it. Certainly
the fear was there.”
If she had knownenough to recognizethe red spotsand bleeding
as danger signs, she said, she wouldhave gone to the emergency
room much sooner.