Archives: 2021-04-13

SARS-CoV-2 infection rates of antibody-positive compared with antibody-negative health-care workers in England: a large, multicentre, prospective cohort study (SIREN) shows that previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 induces effective immunity to future infections in most individuals.

Increased understanding of whether individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 are protected from future SARS-CoV-2 infection is an urgent requirement. In a paper published on The Lancet it was investigated whether antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were associated with a decreased risk of symptomatic and asymptomatic reinfection. A large, multicentre, prospective cohort study was done, with participants

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Letter from the Expert Haematology Panel and endorsed by Thrombosis UK, to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

We wish to raise our concern with the MHRA regarding wording included in recent changes in MHRA guidance on the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The MHRA Guidance issued 7th April 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots ) Indicates: The MHRA is not recommending age restrictions in COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca use. As a precaution, administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca

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World Federation of Hemophilia and European Hemophilia Consortium release joint statement on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

EMA, ISTH, WHO and many countries recommend benefit of COVID-19 vaccination outweighs the risks. Risks of adverse events no higher in people with bleeding disorders The European Medicines Agency (EMA) Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), following investigation of isolated cases of unusual blood clotting with low blood platelets that have occurred in a small number

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University of Cambridge: Communicating the potential benefits and harms of the Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine

All medical treatments have potential harms as well as potential benefits, and it’s important to be able to weigh these against each other. With vaccines, the benefits are particularly complex as they can involve benefits to others as well as to ourselves – and the harms can feel particularly acute because we take vaccines when

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In two papers on NEJM researchers find VITT as responsible of AstraZeneca’s vaccine causing clots in 16 of 222 thrombosis EMA reported cases over 30 milion doses. Even US four J&J vaccine thrombosis cases under EMA evaluation scrutiny.

Doctors might have figured out why AstraZeneca Vaccine Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT) may cause life-threatening blood clots in a group of 16 patients with very rare cases of thrombosis and thrombocytopenia. The discovery, made in a pair of reports published online Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, could be key to the global

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New international consortium to promote stem cell-based therapy to treat Huntington’s disease

The Stem Cells for Huntington’s Disease ( SC4HD ) is a new international consortium created to drive advanced therapy drugs (ATMP), through stem cell transplantation, to treat Huntington’s disease. The entity, made up of twenty-eight renowned researchers from ten countries, has been officially featured in the Journal of Huntington’s Disease . The main objectives of the SC4HD consortium are to

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Helping the Public Understand Adverse Events Associated With COVID-19 Vaccinations

Lessons Learned From Functional Neurological Disorder Videos of people experiencing severe neurological symptoms, including convulsions and difficulty walking, purportedly after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, have surfaced on Facebook, YouTube and other social media channels. The millions of people watching these videos might conclude that the vaccine is either quite dangerous to produce such symptoms or

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Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine under EMA PRAC evaluation after 4 ‘serious cases’ of unusual blood clots

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has dominated headlines as reports of rare blood clots mounted, but, now, European drug safety regulators are investigating potential clotting risks from Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. So far in the J&J vaccine’s U.S. rollout, EU officials have tracked three cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets following vaccination, the European

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AstraZeneca COVID vaccine 70% effective vs B117 variant

Data from a UK phase 2/3 clinical trial suggest the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-vaccine is 70.4% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 caused by the B117 variant, which was identified in the United Kingdom in late 2020. The data, published in The Lancet yesterday, also showed it was 28.9% effective at preventing asymptomatic infections or cases with unknown symptoms. Overall efficacy was

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An international working group (IWG) consensus report redefines outcomes in immune TTP

Immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) is a potentially fatal thrombotic microangiopathy caused by autoantibody-mediated severe deficiency of ADAMTS13. Standardized definitions of response, exacerbation, remission, and relapse were initially proposed in 2003 and modified by the International Working Group for TTP in 2017. These definitions, which have been widely used in clinical practice and research, are

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