Porto, Portugal: LB (1 year old) and thrombocytopenia after vaccine | 24Fev2021 16:56:06
It all started when LB [one year old] had a cold, nothing serious and with low fever peaks (max. 39 twice), passing naturally as the days went by and only getting stuffy without fever on the third day. But on the 26th night he started to get very sleepy, nothing normal, tired and without strength, we thought it could be from the Fenistil (anti histamine drops we give to help dry the nose).
The next day, 27 August 2020, just after he woke up, in a good mood, LB had the first haemorrhage (picture attached), which immediately made us alert and we went to the Boavista Health House to be seen by his paediatrician. At the consultation, the doctor suspected that it could be an intestinal problem (the intestine folded on itself and caused the hemorrhage) but he also found LB very pale and yellowish and with some nuggets (bruises) in strange places (arms, legs, forehead and cheeks) so he asked us to do a set of blood tests (still at the health centre through Unilabs). So we did and then went to CUF to have an ultrasound scan of the bowel and concluded that everything was apparently normal with the bowel showing no infection or movement of the organ.
We went home (lunchtime), waiting for the results of the blood tests carried out in the morning. In the same period LB had another hemorrhage identical to the one in the morning, which worried us a lot and we were rushed to the emergency unit of S. João by the paediatrician's request.
At the emergency department of S. João and still without the blood results, we repeat the same tests by the public health care system to keep a new record. In the meantime, the results arrived through a call from a senior member of staff at Unilabs who, very concerned, mentioned, among other things, that LB was at that moment without any platelet, and that they had even checked it under the microscope and did not see any. In addition, the white and red blood cell values were quite negatively altered. We were really frightened because the scenario was very broadly indicative of possible Leukaemia.
The doctor on duty explained to us in a lay way that LB's bone marrow was producing antibodies that in turn were destroying the platelets leading to a serious anaemic state. To make matters worse LB had another haemorrhage that day after lunch, which was making him very weak and his heart rate low. That afternoon he had a platelet transfusion to see how his body was reacting and had more tests to check for serious diseases such as the suspected leukaemia. LB was always in a good mood, interactive although you could see in his eyes and colour that he was extremely down, tired and with little strength.
Shortly after the platelet transfusion he was again submitted to a blood count, which proved that the platelets he had just received were already being destroyed by his own immune system, which again, indicated a typical process of leukaemia, as the marrow was failing and doing the opposite process. The team of doctors then began with the laboratory to search for a blood transfusion as compatible as possible so that there would be no risk of rejection, as his heartbeat was giving way and his anaemic state was high.
At the end of the day and after this demotivating and generic news, LB had another haemorrhage and there I was in tears begging for the transfusion to happen as soon as possible because he was losing a lot of blood since the morning of that day. After a short time and with all due care, as he could not bump anywhere in order not to lose another drop of blood, LB received the blood transfusion (around 8:30 p.m.).
Thank God he reacted well to the blood transfusion in the first crucial hours; it gave him Life. Meanwhile all the more serious diseases were being discarded and the doctors assumed it was an Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura that had shown itself in a brutal and very aggressive way, rare at LB's age and in the way it presented itself (normally these purpura usually present with small blood leaks in the nose or gums).
The next morning, still in the ER (we stayed there 4 nights as they had to be constantly monitoring and doing blood tests) LB had a spike of fever and the doctors thought he might be starting a bacterial pneumonia (as his immune system was very weak) which didn't help at all and we might have to stay longer in the ER (in very bad and worn out conditions). He again did a series of tests and an ultrasound scan of his spleen, but everything was fine. In the evening of that day we went to Joãozinho, the in-patient ward of São João.
Over the next three days, at Joãozinho's ward, we had more tests and to see how the blood transfusion was reacting, which was very positive and the platelets started slowly being produced and not destroyed.
We were discharged on 5 August at the end of the morning with a proposal for monitoring and treatment for the time ahead. We were very vigilant to the appearance of bruises, fever, pallor or hemorrhage.
In the medical report from St. John's (attached) the doctors indicated that the probable cause was secondary to the respiratory infection he had just had, the cold. But our paediatrician, in a later consultation, alerted us that it could possibly have been a consequence of the measles vaccine, taken in the last days of July, as it is on the list of rare reactions to it.
Notes:
Blood disorders: Thrombocytopenia, a blood disease resulting in spontaneous bleeding, is a well known adverse reaction to the measles vaccine. As early as 1966, researchers noted that 86 percent of vaccinated individuals experienced an extreme drop in platelet levels needed for clotting blood. (148) During the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, wherever measles vaccination campaigns were enforced, including in Sweden, Canada, Germany, Finland, Great Britain and France, new cases of thrombocytopenia were reported. In 1994, the U.S. Vaccine Safety Committee officially acknowledged thrombocytopenia as an adverse reaction to the measles vaccine (155). Subsequent data supports this conclusion. (156-158)
Miller, Neil Z. 2003. Vaccines, Autism and Childhood Disorders – Crucial Data That Could Save Your Child’s Life. New Atlantean Press, Santa Fe, page 75
References
148. Oski, Frank A and Naiman, J Lawrence (1966) Effect of Live Measles Vaccine on the Platelet Count. N Engl J Med 1966; 275:352-356 DOI: 10.1056/NEJM196608182750703 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM196608182750703
155. Institute of Medicine (US) Vaccine Safety Committee, Stratton KR, Howe CJ, Johnston RB Jr., eds. (1994) Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines: Evidence Bearing on Causality. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25144097/
156. Beeler, Judy M.D.; Varricchio, Frederick M.D.; Wise, Robert M.D., M.P.H. (1966) THROMBOCYTOPENIA AFTER IMMUNIZATION WITH MEASLES VACCINES: REVIEW OF THE VACCINE ADVERSE EVENTS REPORTING SYSTEM (1990 TO 1994), The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal: January - Volume 15 - Issue 1 - p 88-90 https://journals.lww.com/pidj/Fulltext/1996/01000/THROMBOCYTOPENIA_AFTER_IMMUNIZATION_WITH_MEASLES.20.aspx
157. CDC. (Sep 6, 1996) Update: Vaccine Side Effects, Adverse Reactions, Contraindications, and Precautions Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR 45(RR-12);1-35 https://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/PrevGuid/m0046738/m0046738.asp
