Research on COVID 19 vax causing Essential Thrombocythemia?

A decrease is seen with ITP. I have ET. I've been tracking data on my platelets since 2014. They were normal until I started getting COVID-19 shots. They go up each time I have a COVID shot. Following the COVID and RSV shots in Fall 2023, they went up another 100K. As of this week, I have to take HU 4x a week. I'm not taking the Covid booster recommended for 65+. I will keep wearing my mask. I have not caught Covid or any other illnesses in 4 years, but I am immune suppressed by taking oral chemo. Oral chemo gives me chronic fatigue.

Research is needed on platelet increases with Covid Shots and ET. I am in several support groups online and it's a real concern and it's not being addressed.

I lost 2 sisters to COVID and they were both boostered. I think that there is a strong link between COVID, as well as the vaccines to blood disorders.

My 68 year old friend had a pulmonary embolism on 5/18/22. This was two weeks after her second COVID vaccine on 5/6/22. She never had COVID before. After that, her lab tests kept showing high red blood cells. She caught COVID for the first time last year. She didn’t get too sick, but several months later, March 2024, she had a stroke. She had a second stroke on April 2024, and a third in June if 2024. She now has an evolving stroke, August 2024. Dr finally diagnoses her with Polycythemia Vera, a jak2 gene mutation. I believe this occurred after her second vaccination. This should be studied.

Sure. But it's likely her blood tests pre-vax will show abnormalities that indicated PV that the doc didn't catch. This is pretty common with MPN-family cancers: Blood tests start looking a little off in a patient's 50s or 60s. Doc ignores it or chalks it up to age because levels because the results aren't THAT bad. Patient develops a clot. More investigation occurs, and the diagnosis is made.

MPNs are caused by genetic mutations that may lurk without causing symptoms for decades. They typically show up in late middle age.

Researchers are looking at a small subset of patients who develop an MPN in childhood or before age 40.

I agree. I was diagnosed with ET in January 2023. I never had an issue with high platelets until I had 2 Covid vaccines.
I never had Covid that I am aware of. What groups do you belong to?

I am not taking anything other than a low dose aspirin. I don’t get the flu shot or any other vaccines.

I also questioned whether the vaccine had anything to do with my platelets increasing. I had my spleen removed in 2014 because ovarian cancer had metastasized to that location.
My platelets were elevated into the upper 400s and 500s from 2014-2021 because of spleen removal. I had three Pfizer Covid shots. After the second one, my platelets sharply increased – – the highest point being 1160.
I have recently been diagnosed with ET and Jak 2 mutation. I started on HU a month ago.
I asked about the connection between the vaccine and the high platelets. The answer was that they have noticed an increase in auto immune disorders since Covid and don’t know what has caused it – – whether it was Covid itself or the vaccine.
I have had Covid twice – – the worst symptom being extreme fatigue.
If anyone hears of any studies being done about the correlation between Covid/vaccines and change in platelet counts, please let me know. It sounds like there must be some connection.

All of us look for answers . . . . but ET has been recognized for 100 years. There were no Covid vaccines 100 years ago. And of course people suffered and succumbed to high platelets long before our cancer was identified.

I encourage everyone to listen to your own doctor as you make decisions about your health. HU, which helps us in lots of ways, does lower our immune response.

That means that for those of us with ET, vaccines are really important. I for one will be getting my Covid booster again this fall.

By the way, my platelet count was elevated more than a year before Covid vaccines became available. And I'm a newbie! Other commenters here have been living with ET for decades.

Here is one research paper on increased platelets with mild covid, but decreased platelets with severe covid infection. There are other paper in ResearchGate and links in this paper. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34695854/