Man who got blood clot after Johnson & Johnson vaccine treated at University of Utah

by Adam Forgie & Michael Locklear, KUTV

Wed, May 5th 2021, 8:02 PM UTC

FILE - In this Thursday, April 8, 2021 file photo, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine sits on a table at a pop up vaccinations site the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, in the Staten Island borough of New York. The U.S. is recommending a “pause” in administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

A box of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is shown in a refrigerator at the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Toppenish, Wash., Thursday, March 25, 2021. In Washington state, workers who labor in crowded conditions such as meatpacking facilities and farms and orchards became eligible for the vaccine earlier in the month. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

FILE - This September 2020, file photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows a pharmacist preparing to give an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. (Johnson & Johnson via AP, File)

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FILE - In this Thursday, April 8, 2021 file photo, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine sits on a table at a pop up vaccinations site the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, in the Staten Island borough of New York. The U.S. is recommending a “pause” in administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — (UPDATE 2:30 p.m.) — The man, younger than 50 years old, who was treated at the University of Utah for a rare blood clot is only the third male in the United States to be treated for that type of blood clot, doctors at the University of Utah said Wednesday in a press conference.

The man told doctors that he first started to feel pain in his toes and when that pain crept up to his thigh, he went to the emergency room. Doctors say a CAT scan revealed a bilateral pulmonary embolism. Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology Yazan Abou-Ismail, M.D. is the doctor who treated the man.

As Dr. Abou-Ismail performed more and more tests, he began to strongly believe the blood clot came from the vaccine. The CDC has yet to confirm that this blood clot came from a vaccine, but they are investigating the man's case.

The man tested negative for COVID-19 and an MRI ruled out blood clots in his brain. The man's blood clots were in his "lower extremities," doctors said.

"There are certain cases where we would expect long-term effects to happen," Dr. Abou-Ismail said. "I do not think this is one of those cases."

Further tests strengthened Dr. Abou-Ismail's belief that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine caused the rare clotting.

The case should serve as a warning for other Utahns to be vigilant following vaccination.

"The symptoms that we encourage people to look out for include any severe persistent headaches or changes in vision or seizures," Abou-Ismail said. "That may be suggestive of a blood clot in the brain."

Also, look out for severe or persistent abdominal pain, chest pain, trouble breathing or a leg pain. Those could be symptoms of a blood clot.

There are many interventions, whether it be birth control pills or other things that have a much higher risk of forming blood clots," said Dr. Richard Orlandi. "We have a much higher risk in our daily activities of significant injury, and this is exquisitely rare."

The man was eventually discharged and he is now recovering at home as doctors keep a close eye on him.

(KUTV) — The University of Utah Health recently treated a male patient for a rare blood clotting disorder after he received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, hospital officials said Wednesday.

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Hospital officials said they immediately treated the man for vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) following the shot.

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