4/7—AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine: EMA finds possible link to very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets
[European Medicines Agency press release.] EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) has concluded today that unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as very rare side effects of Vaxzevria (formerly COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca). As of 4 April 2021, a total of 169 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and 53 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis were reported to EudraVigilance. Around 34 million people had been vaccinated in the EEA and UK by this date. COVID-19 is associated with a risk of hospitalisation and death. The reported combination of blood clots and low blood platelets is very rare, and the overall benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks of side effects.
Everyday reasons more likely to cause brain clots than the AstraZeneca vaccine
[Media report.] The chance of having a blood clot with AstraZeneca is between one in 100,000 to one in a million, according to recent findings. Smoking, job stress and visiting the chiropractor carry a much greater risk. Others include […] being obese, breathing air pollution, and being a woman. Pregnancy can cause a stroke in 30 of every 100,000 women, occurring mostly in the third trimester or postpartum. Taking birth control pills also increases the risk of a stroke, affecting eight of every 100,000 women, according to a recent study.
S-variant SARS-CoV-2 lineage B1.1.7 is associated with significantly higher viral loads in samples tested by ThermoFisher TaqPath RT-qPCR
A SARS-CoV-2 variant B1.1.7 containing a mutation Δ69/70 has spread rapidly in the UK. We analysed recent test data for trends and significance. Our observed cluster of S-gene target failure samples corresponds to a significantly larger population of infectious subjects having an increased viral load; which can be up to 10,000-fold higher than the non-SGTF median (Ct 9 vs. Ct 23).
Low SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Elementary Schools — Salt Lake County, Utah, December 3, 2020–January 31, 2021
SARS-CoV-2 testing was offered to 1,041 school contacts of 51 index patients across 20 elementary schools in Salt Lake County, Utah. In a high community transmission setting, low school-associated transmission was observed with a 0.7% secondary attack rate. Mask adherence was high, but students’ classroom seats were <6 ft apart and a median of 3 ft apart. These findings add to evidence that in-person elementary schools can be opened safely with minimal in-school transmission when critical prevention strategies including mask use are implemented, even though maintaining ≥6 ft between students’ seats might not be possible.
An investigation into the rates of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during the first 6 weeks of the 2020–2021 academic year in primary and post-primary schools in Cork and Kerry, Ireland
[This study aimed] to examine regional data on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in primary, post-primary and special schools in Cork and Kerry, two counties in southwest Ireland, during the first 6 weeks of the 2020–2021 academic year. The overall rate of in-school transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was low at 4.1%. Positivity rates among students and staff who were close contacts were similarly low (3.1% vs. 6.9%, p = 0.07). One secondary case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged, on average, for every 7.6 infectious days spent by an index case in school. Schools accounted for 2.2% of all notified cases of COVID-19 in the region during the observation period. The rate of in-school SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the region was low, and schools did not contribute substantially to the overall burden of COVID-19.
On a lighter note:
104-year-old woman receives standing ovation after beating COVID twice