AstraZeneca Linked To Another Fatal Blood Clotting Disorder

Researchers revealed on Thursday that the Covid-19 vaccine, developed by the massive British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in partnership with Oxford University, increases the risk of vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT), an uncommon but deadly blood clotting disease.

Although not novel, VITT became a distinct illness after the Oxford-AstraZeneca adenovirus vector-based vaccine, which was marketed as Covishield in India and Vaxzevria in Europe, during the 2021 Covid pandemic’s peak.

VITT was determined to be caused by an exceptionally harmful blood autoantibody against a protein known as platelet factor 4 (PF4). Scientists from Canada, North America, Germany, and Italy reported a nearly similar condition in 2023 using the same PF4 antibody, which in some cases proved fatal following a natural adenovirus (common cold) infection.

The PF4 antibodies in the classical adenoviral vector VITT and the adenovirus infection-associated VITT share the same molecular fingerprints or signatures, according to a recent study conducted by scientists from Flinders University in Australia and other international locations.

Professor Tom Gordon of Flinders University stated, “In fact, the pathways of lethal antibody production in these disorders must be nearly identical and have similar genetic risk factors.”

The investigator pointed out that the findings have the important clinical implication that lessons learned from VITT are applicable to rare cases of blood clotting after adenovirus (a common cold) infections, as well as having implications for vaccine development.