The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has approved a fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for people with weakened immune systems. People aged 18 years or older with weakened immune system who received a 3-dose primary course of the COVID-19 vaccine are now recommended to receive the fourth dose ≥ 3 months after their third dose. This is expected to improve protection against symptomatic infection, serious illness, or death from COVID-19 infection.

The Government and the Medical advisory group (ATAGI) have release new recommendations last week for individuals who are severely immunocompromised in regards to the COVID-19 vaccine. These recommendations will affect some (but not all) of our patients. As always, we are happy to discuss any of the recommendations further with all of our patients.

In the last few months, I have been inundated with many questions regarding COVID-19 vaccination and blood clots from patients and other health practitioners. In this article, I have compiled these frequently asked questions.

Despite a global pandemic, new data relating to oncology treatments continues to be published, and it seems that this is increasingly translating into improved drug access here in Australia.

In light of recent reports of clotting events following Astra Zeneca (AZ) vaccine in Europe - we have been frequently asked questions regarding the safety of AZ vaccine in patients with previous clot events and/or blood problems

Two vaccines against the coronavirus have now been approved for use in Australia, role-out of the vaccine begins this week in high-risk populations.

Dr Swe Myo Htet Consultant Haematologist MBBS, FRACP, FRCPA, MRCP

Patients with a malignancy, and in particular those receiving treatment for a malignancy, often experience fatigue. And while adequate rest is important, there has been increasing evidence over the past few years that a regular exercise programme can have a considerable benefit on this fatigue, as well and many other treatment related side effects.

Today (13th Oct) is World Thrombosis Day. We are raising awareness of blood clotting disorders - please find this informative article written by Dr Swe Htet. Patients - you can refer to educational material written by Thrombosis & Haemostasis society of Australia and New Zealand (THANZ) - Preventing another clot (download PDF here) More information regarding thrombosis from THANZ https://www.thanz.org.au/educationandtraining/education-training Clinicians/GPs - you can refer to the Thrombosis Quick Guide developed by our haematologists to help you manage patients with thrombosis (download PDF here) ---------------------------- 1 in 4 people are dying from conditions caused by thrombosis. Blood clotting is a biological plumber fixing a leaking blood vessel. Blood clot will save your life from bleeding if you have a cut in your finger. However, if a blood clot forms unnecessarily in blood vessels called thrombosis, it can lead to significant medical issues. Thrombosis can develop either in the arteries or veins. If there is a clot in an artery supplying the brain, that part of the brain will die leading to stroke. The same principle applies for heart attack when there is a blood clot in the coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart. Whilst many people are aware of the signs and symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, the symptoms of blood clot in the veins can be more difficult to recognized, leading to delayed presentation and treatment. Blood clot forming in the deep veins of the legs is called deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Whilst DVT in the lower limbs is not usually life-threatening, if a large clot breaks off and travels to the lung(s), it can cause blockage of blood flow into the lung(s) causing pulmonary embolism (PE) that can be extremely dangerous to patients. Symptoms of DVT in the legs can be pain, swelling or redness in the calf. Patients can present with palpitation, chest pain, and shortness of breath if there is PE. There are three main risk factors for thrombosis in the veins - immobility, sticky blood, and changes in the lining of the veins. These risks could be acquired, such as immobility during long distance travel (flights) and patients lying in bed following surgery, or specific conditions e.g. cancer that could cause blood to be “more sticky”. However, some of the risks could also be familial (passed down from families). Please speak to your doctor regarding these risks if you are concerned. These are quite different to the risk factors of arterial thrombosis; which are mainly smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension. Venous thrombosis can be treated with blood thinning agents. Different blood thinning agents used for venous thrombosis include Warfarin, Clexane, and more recently - Rivaroxaban and Apixaban. Main complication of blood thinning agent is bleeding. The choice and duration of blood thinning agent varies among different individuals. Please discuss this with your doctor. Blood Specialists at Ballarat Cancer Care and Haematology will be available to have further conversation regarding management of blood clots. ~ Article written by Dr Swe Htet