INVESTIGATOR: FHI’s Per Magnus collects side effect data. Photo: National Institute of Public Health / Monica Kvaale
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NIPH is still working on discussing exactly what to ask. But they will post specific questions that may say something about whether more people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine have symptoms of the particular course of the disease – without having become so seriously ill that it has been detected by being admitted to hospital.
Then this can be checked against what those who have received Pfizer, and those who have not received a vaccine, have answered.
– You can ask about skin bleeding, nosebleeds, if you bleed when you brush your teeth, or if women have heavy menstrual bleeding. And then we can ask openly. We have asked some so far, but have not been able to analyze the data properly. After Easter, we will start getting some more data.
No direct causal link has been established between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the serious cases in Norway, but experts who have examined patients believe it is likely. that the vaccine triggered a rare combination: blood clots, bleeding and low platelet counts.
When FHI receives more data from the health surveys, they can also start looking at whether there is something they who report on any side effects have in common.
– We have background data from previous questionnaires that include previous illnesses, education, age, gender, occupation, whether they have been exposed to anything else at the same time, he says.
Will compare blood tests
The participants are people who are asked regularly, and you can see what percentage have answered yes to specific questions.
– We can also call in participants in health examinations to take more blood samples. In the week after Easter, we will see if we can call in people.
It is something including the hospital in Østfold has already started with.
– Can it be too late after the vaccine has been taken if you call in after Easter?
– You can check for changes in all possible proteins, level of it – thus one can perhaps understand what mechanism this has been. Those changes may be there even if the vaccine itself was taken several weeks ago. If there are changes in metabolism, you can see it in changes in genetic material, and even methylation of DNA, says Magnus.