Covid-19 vaccine: Common stroke symptoms must be ’urgently evaluated’

UCL and UCLH neurologists have published the first clinical observations of patients who experienced an ischaemic stroke, the most common form of stroke, following an Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. In the research letter, clinician scientists at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (part of UCLH), advise that when patients present with ischaemic stroke - due to blood clots in arteries causing lack of blood supply to part of the brain - within about one month of vaccination, they should also be 'urgently evaluated' for the very rare syndrome of Vaccine induced Thrombosis and Thrombocytopenia ( VITT ). The condition requires different additional treatments from typical ischaemic stroke, so needs to be rapidly diagnosed and managed by a multi-disciplinary team with rapid access to a range of drugs. In the UK there are over 100,000 cases of ischaemic stroke per year (on average). By contrast, up to 12 May 2021 there were only 309 cases of major thrombosis with low platelet count suggesting VITT following over 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The number of people who experienced blood clots from VITT after a COVID-19 vaccine is therefore extremely low at around 1 per 100,000 doses. The report, published in Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, also details the symptoms of three patients leading up to their ischaemic stroke and admission to the NHNN.