BBC radio presenter (44) dies after brain haemorrhage as …

The radio host received her first vaccination with AstraZeneca on April 29 this year. A few days later, Lisa Shaw developed a headache that kept getting worse. The pain became so acute that she was taken to hospital in North Durham on May 13. According to the attending physician, Shaw complained of stabbing pain in the forehead and behind the eyes. The doctors then found blood clots in her brain.

For the next few days, Shaw was treated in Intensive Care with medication to dissolve the blood clots. The treatment initially seemed to work, but three days later, on May 16, the excruciating headache returned and Shaw struggled to speak. Scans showed that the radio voice had suffered a brain haemorrhage. Part of her braincase was removed to relieve pressure on her brain.

However, her condition deteriorated visibly and on May 21 she died in hospital.

Fit young woman

According to Dr Tuomo Polvikoski, a neuropathologist who examined Lisa Shaw’s body after her death, it is “surprising” that the woman died of blood clots and a brain haemorrhage. After all, she was a fit young woman, with no medical history. The doctor therefore finds it “very plausible” that the blood clots are a result of her vaccination with AstraZeneca. Those findings were endorsed by other specialists.

The development of blood clots after vaccination with AstraZeneca is extremely rare, but many cases are known worldwide. For this reason, a number of countries have (temporarily) stopped administering the vaccine from the Swedish-British pharmaceutical company in recent months. In the UK there are 417 reported cases. 72 patients died as a result of the blood clots. That out of a total of just under 25 million first doses of the vaccine and almost as many second doses.

Both the European Medicines Agency and the British medicine watchdog therefore believe that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks for the majority of people.

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