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There have been reports of de novo or relapse of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP) after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccinations. Additional controls employed to confirm assay specificity: (1) I Negative Control 1 i : plasma from a previous TTP patient collected in 2016, thus predates SARS-CoV-2 emergence and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and lacking the necessary anti-Spike S1 antibody. All three patients had significant levels of neutralizing IgG antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1 protein after COVID-19 vaccinations. In the validation experiment, all readings were also negative (Table 2), demonstrating that while these samples have significant levels of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1 protein, no cross-binding was observed to ADAMTS-13 proteins based on a lack of anti-ADAMTS-13 conjugate interaction. [Extracted from the article]

Objective To describe the demographic characteristics, clinical features, functional status and quality of life of elderly-onset ( EORA) and young-onset ( YORA) rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) patients in an Asian cohort. Methods We studied all RA patients in our prospective disease registry, utilizing baseline data. EORA was defined as disease onset at 60 years or older. We collected data from January 2001 to December 2012. Results There were 1206 patients in our cohort, of which 178 (14.8%) had EORA, with a mean age of onset of 66.7 ± 5.6 years. There were more males in the EORA than YORA group (23.0% vs. 14.7%, P = 0.005). EORA patients were diagnosed sooner after symptom onset and had a higher number of comorbidities (median 2 [inter-quartile range 1-3] vs. 1 (0-2), P < 0.001). They were less likely to be rheumatoid factor positive, had higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate values and lower hemoglobin concentrations. There was no significant difference in joint counts, Disease Activity Score of 28 joints activity score and prevalence of radiographic erosions. Though EORA patients had worse Health Assessment Questionnaire scores and poorer functional status than YORA ones, they had lower pain scores and higher scores in the general health and mental component summary of the Short Form-36. EORA patients received significantly lower numbers of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Conclusions EORA and YORA patients had different demographic characteristics. Although they had similar disease activities, EORA patients received less intensive treatment. EORA patients had a higher number of RA-related co-morbidities and poorer physical functioning but they coped better emotionally and mentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]