INDIANÁPOLIS (DESIRE) – Doctors are discovering that some people have a rare blood disease after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The disorder is called thrombocytopenia and usually makes people easily bruise, develop skin rashes and bleed excessively from just a small injury.
So, how concerned should people be? News 8 asked Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health, to give his opinion.
Gillis: Some people are developing a blood disorder after being vaccinated against the coronavirus. What is this blood disease and how can it be linked to the vaccine?
Doehring: We are referring to thrombocytopenia, which is a low platelet count and is certainly not an uncommon occurrence with different types of vaccines – even different types of viral diseases. We are not seeing that much. But occasionally we see a patient develop it and the rashes that can accompany it.
Gillis: And is this also seen in other types of viruses or other types of conditions?
Doehring: Yes. Therefore, when the body reacts to viruses of all types, some patients may develop an autoimmune reaction that reduces the platelet count and this is what you see occasionally with COVID. But it is unusual with the vaccine.
However, it is sometimes not clinically apparent and you can only get it on a blood test. But sometimes it manifests as a rash on the skin – what we call petechiae, which are small dotted 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 several different components, including red blood cells, white blood cells, antibodies, plasma, and platelets and platelets help with clotting, which means they help your body stop bleeding when a cut occurs.
Gillis: So, if we don’t have these platelets, can we risk more bleeding and maybe bleeding?
Doehring: Yes. Sometimes, you will see people who have low platelets beyond a certain limit, where maybe their gums start to bleed when they brush their teeth or you may get that skin rash because you have bleeding capillaries on your skin – that’s what it is this rash. Your platelets are there all the time. They are on standby ready to stop the bleeding, forming a clot and when they get too low you can start to see those spontaneous manifestations of low platelets.
Gillis: You mentioned these rashes … and I was reading about a case where a woman was not sure what was going on and saw bruises. Is it something that we could see with that?
Doehring: This is also part. Easy bruising, bleeding gums and this rash of petechiae – these are some of the ways you would see it spontaneously manifest. But with many patients with low platelet counts it does not cause any manifestation that you may see. Therefore, you often detect this in blood tests, especially for patients who are sicker 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 beforehand and is not related to the vaccine? And what do you think of the connection between the vaccine and this blood disease?
Doehring: Anything that can trigger your immune system to react, be it a vaccine or a real virus and certainly any number of viruses can cause that same type of reaction in your body – it is certainly something that is seen – but, again, it is not very common . We don’t see this very often and, fortunately, in the limited cases we are seeing, it is very rare, especially if it became something of concern or clinically significant.
Gillis: OK. We are not sure if this is permanent or temporary. Or are you saying that it may just be temporary.
Doehring: It is usually temporary and can be treated with steroids and sometimes, if the risk of bleeding increases, you can administer platelet transfusions. But again, these are really rare and only for patients who are really sick and need to be hospitalized.
Gillis: I know that people are superconscious after getting the vaccine, knowing that there may be side effects after vaccinations. And you mentioned that it can only be detected by blood. So when does a point come when a person should go to the doctor and have a blood test just to be sure that nothing is happening? Or if there is something going on?
Doehring: Particularly with the two COVID vaccines that are currently being used in the USA … the federal government has created some web tracking and monitoring systems. So everyone who gets the vaccine is instructed to log in so they can report any problems they’re having and certainly something that’s serious or bothersome … they should inform their doctor and get a proper assessment and this is the severe, high rash fevers or whatever.
I think because of the USA (emergency use authorization), the government has these reporting and monitoring capabilities to help us understand what is really going on as we vaccinate tens of millions of Americans.
Gillis: Well, the governing body to which people can report their symptoms … I mean, it may or may not be related to or linked to the COVID-19 vaccine. It may just be something that happened or the result of a medication they took. However, it is still very important to report this.
Doehring: You are exactly right. There are other autoimmune diseases that can happen with vaccines and viruses. One that you may hear about is something called Guillain Barre Syndrome and it is something that affects the nervous system.
Well, the flu vaccine has been linked to Guillain Barre, but it is linked to a seventeenth rate of the actual flu. 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. That’s where it gets a little confused. But in general, we believe that vaccinating people against these common viruses actually reduces the risk of many of these things. But again, you can see this as a result of receiving a vaccine.
News 8 medical reporter, Dr. Mary Elizabeth Gillis, D.Ed., is a classical-trained medical physiologist and research scientist in bio-behavior. She has been a health, medicine and science reporter for over 5 years. His work was featured in the national media. You can follow her on Facebook @DrMaryGillis.