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<p>New research led by Flinders University and international experts is expanding understanding of vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (known as VITT).</p> <p> </p> <p>At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021,VITT emerged as a new disease following adenovirus vector-based vaccines – notably the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.</p>
Their new observation, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, provides fresh insight
Prior to this study, anti-platelet factor 4 disorder was thought to be caused by exposure to heparin or autoimmune conditions.
The new observation, made by UNC School of Medicine’s Stephan Moll, MD, and Jacquelyn Baskin-Miller, MD, suggests that a life-threatening blood clotting disorder can be caused by an infection with adenovirus, one of the most common respiratory viruses in pediatric and adult patients.
Platelets, or thrombocytes, are specialized cellular fragments that form blood clots when we get scrapes and traumatic injuries. Viral infections, autoimmune disease, and other conditions can cause platelet levels to drop throughout the body, termed thrombocytopenia.