No fatalities among seven new AZ blood clots cases

Australia has now recorded 132 confirmed or probable cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) related to the approximately 10.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine administered to 5 September, according to the latest COVID-19 vaccine weekly safety report.
 
The report, prepared by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), confirmed that no TTS deaths were recorded over the past week. A 25-year-old man from New South Wales is the youngest of the new cases, with the rest occurring in four men and two women aged 44–89.
 
Cases have most often occurred about two weeks after vaccination, although the time to onset (or diagnosis) has ranged from 1–83 days. The TGA has also indicated that some of the probable cases may be reclassified in future once more is known about TTS.
 
‘To date, cases presenting with a longer time to onset [over 50 days] have been designated as probable cases and have presented with common forms of clots,’ the TGA states.
 
‘It can be difficult to distinguish between normal clots and TTS for these cases and they remain under investigation. As more is learnt about TTS internationally, we are considering modifying our case criteria, such as including the time to onset of symptoms as part of the criteria for confirming TTS.
 
‘If the criteria are updated, it may result in some cases being reclassified as unlikely to be TTS because they present such a long time after vaccination and/or are likely to be due to other causes.’
 
Hospitalisation due to TTS is occurring at a rate of 1.21 per 100,000 doses, whereas 4.34 in every 100 active COVID cases are currently in hospital. Seven people remain in hospital – none of whom are being treated in intensive care – compared with 1276 COVID cases (226 in ICU).
 
Meanwhile, an additional 77 suspected cases of myocarditis/pericarditis have been recorded following vaccination with Pfizer over the past week, including two boys and one girl aged 15–17. The new cases bring the total 370, including 12 adolescents.
 
Myocarditis/pericarditis is occurring at a rate of 3.4 cases per 100,000 Pfizer doses and to date there have been no fatalities in Australia.
 
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AstraZeneca Pfizer safety report TGA TTS