Ministry of Health studies whether the death of a woman from a stroke in Marbella could be related to the AstraZeneca vaccine

BarcelonaSpain has already identified three cases of adverse reactions to the AstraZeneca vaccine. One of them, that of a 43-year-old teacher in Marbella who has died after suffering an ischemic stroke. On Tuesday, the latest two cases reported to the Spanish Pharmacovigilance System were added to the one identified on Monday, among a total of 975,661 people vaccinated with the Anglo-Swedish vaccine in Spain. "These are three cases of thrombotic events that by themselves, although infrequent, can happen in the general population. In any case, the three cases have the particularity that the thrombotic events have been associated with a decrease in the number of platelets in the blood. This fact may suggest an abnormal activation of the coagulation system that would be associated with the formation of clots in locations that are not the most common", says the note from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products.

The woman received the vaccine on March 3, according to the Efe agency, and had no previous pathologies. She went to the emergency room with symptoms of headaches and general malaise, and after a few days returned to the hospital for a CT scan. The next day the test was repeated and a massive hemorrhage was detected, which was attempted to be drained in an operation in which an edema was discovered. Finally, she died yesterday on Tuesday.

The Agency itself, together with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), is analysing the different cases that have arisen across Europe and gathering more information to take a decision on the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine. This Thursday, the EMA is expected to give a definitive response. For the moment, Spain has stopped vaccination with the Anglo-Swedish vaccine, pending the report. The director of the European Agency, Emer Cooke, appeared at a press conference yesterday to calm the waters and send a message of confidence to the public. According to Cooke, "a situation like this is not unexpected".

In Catalonia, the Department of Health insisted yesterday in affirming that the benefits of the vaccination with AstraZeneca outweigh the possible risks and adverse effects that it may generate. "There have been 17 million doses of AstraZeneca, 6 million in the European Union and 11 in the United Kingdom, and 14 adverse events have been observed, 11 and 3 respectively", explained the Secretary of Public Health, Josep Maria Argimon. This number of adverse events has now risen slightly, but still represents a very low figure for all doses administered.