Two more people in Macau have reportedly suffered from adverse effects after being inoculated with Covid-19 jabs, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a press statement.
In one of the two cases, a local 34-year-old man was the second person within a week to be diagnosed with Bell’s palsy.
According to the report from the center, the adverse events following immunization (AEFI) occurred after he received his first dose of a Sinopharm jab at a public healthcare center on Sunday.
This follows the first case reported of an AEFI involving a diagnosis of Bell’s palsy which occurred last week, affecting a 27-year-old male who had received a BioNTech jab late last month.
The second case involves a local 34-year-old woman who has now been diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis – a medical condition that involves damage to skeletal muscle due to degeneration. She was diagnosed after receiving her second dose of a BioNTech mRNA jab early this month.
Health authorities explained that the woman suffered pain in her thighs last Friday after exercising on a stationary bicycle. The symptoms then worsened in the following days, leading her to seek help at the University Hospital at Macao University of Science and Technology on Monday.
Results of blood testing, performed on April 20, revealed a significant increase in creatine kinase. These tests were performed at the Emergency Department of the Conde de São Januário Hospital Center, where she was admitted to the ward with a diagnosis of acute rhabdomyolysis.
This is the first case of rhabdomyolysis reported in Macau after the Covid-19 vaccination and raises the total number of AEFI in the Special Administrative Region to 387.
Rhabdomyolysis is a serious syndrome caused by a severe muscle injury. It results from the death of muscle fibers and the consequent release of their contents into the bloodstream. This can lead to serious complications, such as renal failure, as the kidneys cannot remove the high concentration of cell materials.
In contrast with their approach to the first case of Bell’s palsy, health authorities decided to classify this second case as a “light” AEFI. They did the same for the case of rhabdomyolysis, leaving the current total number of severe cases reported at two.
As in previous cases, the new AEFI cases have been transferred to the Health Bureau’s special working group currently assessing adverse events after Covid-19 vaccinations, as both were viewed as “unusual.”
The same group has also concluded that the causal relationship between the Bell’s palsy case announced last week and his Covid-19 vaccination was “inconclusive.” A direct relationship has not been established between the health condition and the vaccine.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday, there was a total of 88,292 inoculations concluded.
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