COVID vaccines may trigger leukemia
Continuing medical research keeps finding harmful vaccine impacts
Physicians in Taiwan diagnosed a Ph-positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) occurring directly after the patient received Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 bivalent (Omicron BA.4/BA.5) booster vaccine on January 3, 2023. It turns out that the 43-year-old had a total of six spike antigen exposures over the past 1.5 years (two doses of AstraZeneca, and half dose of Moderna’s monovalent mRNA vaccine and Novavax) on June 4, 2021, August 31, 2021, January 15, 2022, and July 15, 2020, respectively. While the doctors acknowledged the challenges in declaring a causal relationship between the bivalent mRNA vaccination and Ph-positive B-cell ALL, the Taiwanese doctors clearly are concerned, proposing “that anti-spike protein immune responses could be a trigger for leukemia.”
The 43-year-old woman with no problematic health record immediately after the injection felt off—with a few concerning side effects from dizziness, mild dyspnea (breathing difficulty) to an overall general malaise. Five days after the booster dose was administered, the patient’s general malaise continued, along with worsening breathing problems, so she made it to Far Eastern Memorial Hospital Emergency Department in New Taipei City. Physicians at the emergency department observed no fever or respiratory symptoms, and she tested negative for COVID-19. Doctors reported tachycardia (119 beats/min) with normal blood pressure, and no abnormal bleeding, petechia or ecchymosis detected. A series of other blood tests led to the identification of ALL symptoms.
As part of the case series, the Taiwanese physicians researched the incidence of hematologic malignancy occurrence after mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations. A disturbing topic, that is, the highly rare connection between mRNA vaccination and ALL. The disease itself, ALL—is rare with a poor prognosis. The 5-year overall survival equals 35% in patients aged between 18 to 60 years. The cause of adult ALL includes old age (>70 years), recent viral infection, chemotherapy or radiation exposure and genetic disorders.
How many other cases of hematologic malignancy occurring after mRNA vaccination have occurred to date? Seven (7). All cases received monovalent BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccination. TrialSite notes that these are the only cases documented and that there could be more. Four of the seven cases were identified as acute myeloid leukemia. Onset of symptoms varies but on average, was four to five weeks after vaccination.
In the current Taiwanese case, how fast was the onset of BCR-ABL1 Ph–positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia? An amazing five (5) days.
What’s a key premise involved in this case series that will likely not make its way into mainstream media anytime soon? That “repeated spike antigen exposures involved with COVID-19 vaccination amplify the immune cell response in a condensed period of time, thereby potentially increasing incidence of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
What do the case report authors recommend is needed?
Robust population-level studies investigation if there is an increased incidence of hematolymphoid neoplasms post COVID-19 vaccination. Also, they argue it’s “imperative to keep monitoring the hematopoietic adverse events after these new technology bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations, especially for patients with multiple spike antigen exposures in a relatively short-term period.” Finally, the authors suggest more pre-clinical studies evaluating the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines.
