[ad_1]
Dr Gregory Michael, an obstetrician in private practice at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, received a first dose of the experimental COVID-19 mRNA vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech on December 18, 2020 and died 16 days later from a cerebral hemorrhage (stroke). ).1
Within three days of taking the vaccine, he developed symptoms of a severe autoimmune bleeding disorder, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), often called immune thrombocytopenia.2 According to his wife, the 56-year-old OB / GYN doctor was in good health when he received the COVID-19 vaccine and began showing symptoms of bleeding under the skin within 72 hours.
He was hospitalized in the intensive care unit but none of the treatments could stop the internal bleeding.3 The case is currently under review by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner, who works with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Department of Health.4
According to the Miami Herald, on January 7, 2021, a Pfizer official said Michael had died from a “very unusual clinical case of severe thrombocytopenia, a condition that decreases the body’s ability to clot blood and stop bleeding. internal.
The Pfizer spokesperson added, “We are actively investigating this case, but at this time we do not believe there is a direct link to the vaccine.”5 A CBS report quoted the Pfizer spokesperson as saying:6
“No associated safety signal has been identified in our clinical trials, post-marketing experience to date or with the mRNA vaccine platform. To date, millions of people have been vaccinated and we are closely monitoring all adverse events in people receiving our vaccine.
It is important to note that serious adverse events, including non-vaccine related deaths, are unfortunately likely to occur at a rate similar to that of the general population. “
Wife: Gregory Michael ‘loved by everyone in the community’
A well-known and popular obstetrician originally from Miami, Michael had operated a private obstetrics / gynecology practice in Miami Beach for 12 years and also worked as a clinical instructor and faculty member for the Medical Assistant program at Barry University and Miami Dade. University. He was the father of a 15 year old girl.
His wife, Heidi Neckelmann, posted a heartfelt message onlineseven calling her husband “the love of my life” who was “loved by everyone in the community, delivered hundreds of healthy babies and worked tirelessly during the pandemic”. In informing her friends of her death, she asked them to share her message so that the public would be more aware that the COVID-19 vaccine is not without risk. She said:
“He was a vaccine advocate and that’s why he got it himself. I believe people should be aware that side effects can occur, that it is not good for everyone and in this case destroyed a beautiful life, a perfect family and affected so many people in the community . Do not let his death be in vain, please save more lives by making this information timely. “
CDC: The ‘potential benefits’ of COVID vaccines ‘outweigh the risks’
A CBS report quoted Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, as saying: “The known and potential benefits of current COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the known and potential risks. to contract COVID-19. This does not mean, however, that we might not see possible serious health events in the future.
Reportedly, CDC officials told reporters they had seen no serious reactions beyond 29 cases of severe allergic reactions – or about 11 cases of anaphylaxis per 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. administered.8
ITP caused by the destruction of platelets mediated by autoantibodies
Idiopathic or Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) is a complex autoimmune disease caused by the destruction of platelets mediated by autoantibodies, which are cells in the blood that help stop bleeding.9 Basically, the immune system malfunctions and produces antibodies that attack the platelets in the body. In some cases, T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) directly attack and destroy platelets.ten
ITP has been reported to develop after infections, including infection with SARS-CoV-2;11 reactions to prescription and nonprescription drugs12 pregnancy, exposure to chemical toxins,13 vaccination,14 or as a complication of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, but all the causes of ITP are still not known.
A normal platelet count is between 150,000 and 450,000 platelets, and ITP can reduce the platelet count to less than 10,000 platelets, resulting in severe internal bleeding.
Symptoms of ITP can start with the appearance of tiny red dots under the skin, which indicate very small bleeding, and progress to purple spots and bruising on large areas of the skin, as well as nosebleeds, bleeding in the mouth and around the gums, and blood in the vomit, urine or stool, which indicates a much more serious internal bleeding.
The most dangerous complication of ITP is bleeding in the brain causing brain hemorrhage and catastrophic brain damage or death.15 Treatments that attempt to slow or stop the destruction of platelets during ITP are limited and include intravenous gamma globulin (IVGG) and platelet infusions, steroids and several other drugs, or removal of the spleen.16
ITP in children, which occurs in 1 in 20,000 children, may be more easily reversed than ITP in adults, which occurs in approximately 1 in 15,000 adults in the United States and is more common in women and people over 60 years old.17,18 The majority of children recover from acute ITP, but about 30% of adults have chronic disease after developing ITP and 5% die from bleeding.19
ITP reported after and causally linked to vaccinations
In 1991, a committee of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences stated in its report titled “Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines” that there were too few scientific studies published in the literature. doctor examining ITP after whole cell pertussis (DPT) vaccination. or rubella vaccination (MMR) for the committee to determine whether or not the DTP or MMR vaccine causes ITP in children.20,21
However, reports continued to appear in the medical literature.22 In 2001, a study was published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood confirming a causal association between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and ITP.
The study authors said, “The absolute risk within six weeks of vaccination was 1 in 22,300 doses, with two out of three cases occurring in the six-week period following vaccination being caused by MMR.23 The CDC website currently states:24
“Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) is a disorder that decreases the body’s ability to stop bleeding. This can happen both after a natural measles infection and after receiving the MMR vaccine.
However, it is generally not life threatening. Treatment may include blood transfusion and medication. The risk of ITP has been shown to be increased within six weeks of MMR vaccination, with one study estimating 1 case per 40,000 children vaccinated. “
Over the past decade, there have been a number of studies published in the United States and other countries that ITP develops after receiving vaccines, including HPV25 and influenza vaccines,26,27 with authors calling for more research on the association between vaccination and ITP.28,29,30 A group of researchers examining the relationship between ITP and vaccinations said in 2014:31
“Vaccines can induce ITP by several mechanisms. Autoimmunity associated with the vaccine may arise not only from antigen-mediated responses, but also from other components of the vaccine, such as yeast proteins, adjuvants, and preservative diluents. The most likely is molecular mimicry induced by viruses …
The autoantibody hypothesis is not sufficient to explain all cases of ITP: in negative antiplatelet cases, a complementary mechanism based on the immune mediated mechanism of T cells has been suggested. In particular, T cell subsets appear to be deregulated with increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IFN-γ and TNF, and chemokines, such as CXCL10. “
An October 2020 International Journal of Infectious Diseases editorial titled “ITP After Vaccination” noted that “the term ‘autoimmunity mosaic’ indicates that immune-mediated disorders can involve different sources, including genetics, environmental factors and hormonal or immune defects.32
The editors noted that vaccination is one of the “environmental triggers” that has been described in the medical literature in association with ITP. The review editors, who called for more research on the vaccination-ITP combination, said:33,34
“Regardless of the mechanism by which artificial vaccination causes ITP, it has been reported following vaccinations against various infectious agents, in particular measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), but also Haemophilus influenza [HIB], hepatitis B (HBV), human papillomavirus (HPV), varicella zoster [chickenpox], vaccines against acellular pertussis diphtheria-tetanus (DTap), polio and pneumococcus.
A French study that evaluated drug-induced ITP found that about 45% of cases were post-vaccination.
FDA: Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial had ITP case
Pfizer did not report any cases of ITP that occurred in clinical trials of its investigational COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, which was the vaccine Michael received.35
However, in a background paper prepared for the Vaccines and Related Biologics Advisory Committee meeting on December 17, 2020, where committee members voted on granting Moderna an authorization to use (EUA) to distribute its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in the United States. , the FDA noted a case of ITP in a 72-year-old clinical trial participant who was hospitalized with thrombocytopenia and obstructive kidney stone disease after receiving the investigational vaccine and died of multi-organ failure.
In discussing the deaths in clinical trials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the FDA said:36
“One case was a 72-year-old vaccine recipient with Crohn’s disease and short bowel syndrome, hospitalized with thrombocytopenia and acute renal failure due to obstructive nephrolithiasis. [kidney stone] 40 days after dose 2 and developed complications resulting in multi-organ failure and death. “
[ad_2]