Vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, or VITT, is a type of autoimmune blood clotting disorder that can occur after adenovirus COVID-19 vaccinations. However, researchers recently found that the same pattern of disease can also occur following adenovirus infections. “Our working hypothesis is that there is a common trigger between adenoviral vaccine and adenovirus infection .
.. that is yet to be identified,” one of the lead authors, Dr.
Tom Paul Gordon, professor and head of immunology at Flinders University, told The Epoch Times. This research will have implications for vaccine improvement, said the lead author of the paper, Jing Jing Wang, a researcher with a doctorate in medical biotechnology, in a press release. VITT is a rare but severe autoimmune disease that can occur as a side effect of the COVID-19 J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines.
Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia is included in J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine package inserts. The autoimmune disease is caused by anti-platelet factor 4 antibodies or anti-PF4 antibodies. PF4 is a protein released by platelets.
Both PF4 and these antibodies occur naturally in the body and help form blood clots. The antibodies bind to PF4, clumping into blood clots. Platelets also clump into these clots.
Since platelets are needed to stop bleeding, platelet clumping reduces active platelets in the blood, elevating a person’s risk of blood clots and bleeding. However, the authors of the letter to the editor found that anti-PF4 antibodie.
