Free Republic

Israeli researchers on Monday said that they discovered a link between Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and a rare blood disease called thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).Scientists with the Institute of Hematology at Shamir Medical Center said they began researching the possible link after reports of a sudden increase in TTP across Israel.The team said they discovered a “chronological connection” between when the Pfizer shot was administered to the patient and the onset of symptoms of the blood disease. They said that four cases were detected.“Physicians and patients need to be alert to the clinical symptoms: weakness fatigue, neurological disorders, hemorrhage and chest...

A rare blood infection is claiming lives, and the CDC can't pinpoint the source. The infection, caused by the Elizabethkingia anophelis bacteria, has killed 17 people in Wisconsin since November and just claimed a life in Michigan, the Detroit News reports. Elizabethkingia is often found in water and soil, but – until now – has seldom caused infections. So far, 54 Wisconsin residents have contracted the infection, CNN reports. "We don't see 48 of the identical organism causing an outbreak like this very often," Michael Bell, deputy director for the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease...

As health official continue to search for the origins of the ongoing Elizabethkingiam outbreak, the rare blood infection has now made its way to a second state. Having already sickened over 50 people since first being detected in Wisconsin in November, the Michigan Department of Health said Thursday that one of its own residents has tested positive for the infection. After being diagnosed with Elizabethkingiam, the elderly patient with several existing health conditions later died. The Wisconsin Department of Health has so far confirmed 54 cases of Elizabethkingiam “The majority of patients acquiring this infection are over the age of...

Cord Blood Registry® (CBR®), the world’s largest and most experienced cord blood stem cell bank, today announced that it has released a total of five stem cell samples in the first quarter of the year for transplant or infusion. Three of the cases are individuals who will require their own cord blood stem cells for autologous infusions for cerebral palsy, type I diabetes, and a rare autoimmune disorder related to autism. The additional two samples were released for use by a sibling in each family: one to treat acute myeloid leukemia and the other to treat a serious blood disease,...

<p>COLUMBIA, Mo. — Members of a sorority were urged to lie about their health to qualify as donors in a competitive blood drive at the University of Missouri-Columbia (search), a school that once set a world record for blood collection.</p>