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Welcome to our website!

We provide information about Aplastic Anaemia and PNH and our offers for patients and relatives. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.

Never give up – you are not alone!

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Third vaccination seems to increase protection against corona in immunosuppressive therapy

Syringe with vial for vaccination © weyo

Vaccination, vaccination, vaccination - there are few other topics that dominate the media, politics, but also our conversations with family and friends so much at the moment: Rightly, because the development of vaccines against the coronavirus and the increasing "vaccination coverage" of the population feed the hope of overcoming this crisis at some point.

For a few months, however, there have been indications that the corona vaccination does not work equally well for all people: A study from March of this year found that people taking immunosuppressive therapy are less able to develop protection against a COVID-19 infection than people without this medication. This can be easily explained:WEITER

Invitation to the Essen patient and family seminar

Virtual classroom © manfredsteger on pixabay

We are delighted that the Essen University Hospital is inviting you to its 12th PNH and AA seminar for patients and relatives . Due to the ongoing pandemic, it will take place virtually this year: On Saturday, September 25th, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. you will be brought up to date on the diseases and will have the opportunity to ask questions.


Invitation and link to participate

our virtual group

Mug and Notebook (c) Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

We introduced our regular virtual meetings when we had to cancel our local group meetings due to the pandemic. We didn't know whether anyone would even be interested in sitting in front of the screen and talking to people who were initially unknown about their experiences with aplastic anaemia and PNH. It has now been almost a year since we held our first "trial meeting", and our virtual group has established itself as an independent group.

We are very happy about this and thank you for your encouragement, empathy and loyalty.

The meetings continue to take place every third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. and we look forward to meeting "old friends" as well as new faces.

next meeting

Reminder: Survey on COVID-19 at AA and PNH

syringe with vials for vaccination © weyo

We read and hear it every day in the newspaper and on the radio - the COVID vaccination operation is in full swing and the number of first and second vaccinated people in Germany is steadily increasing. The proportion of vaccinated AA / PNH patients is also increasing, but whether and how they react to the vaccination compared to healthy people has not yet been scientifically recorded. Therefore we have created a short anonymous survey and ask you to tell us about your experience with vaccination. You can also take part in the survey if you cannot or do not want to be vaccinated or if you have contracted COVID-19. In doing so, you help to create a meaningful database to further improve the care of AA / PNH patients in the future.

We make the results of the survey available to science free of charge. Participating patients can also receive the evaluations on request.

The survey and further information can be found under the following link: https://aa-pnh.org/umfragen/irvap/de/ and in English at https://aa-pnh.org/umfragen/irvap/en/

Thank you for your help!

Survey on COVID-19 at AA and PNH

Spritze mit Fläschchen für Impfung © weyo

Dear AA / PNH fellow patients,

Some time ago we informed you about a survey initiated by our association in cooperation with the lichter zellen foundation . The purpose of this survey is to record the effects that COVID-19 vaccination has on our patient group. At the same time, AA / PNH patients who have recovered from a COVID-19 disease can also take part in the survey.

We were able to make the survey known around the world, among other things, through the global network PNH Global Alliance . In the meantime, 72 patients from Germany, Austria and Switzerland and 12 patients from Europe have taken part in our survey. We are particularly pleased about the participation of 8 patients so far from Australia, Iran, Canada, Turkey and the USA.

This gives us the chance to make the results of this survey available to science in order to enable better care for our relatively small patient group in the future.

In order to achieve meaningful results, we are still dependent on the active participation of AA / PNH patients. Please pay attention to our survey and take a few minutes to answer the anonymous survey. You are helping all AA and PNH patients.

WEITER

Workshop on AA / PNH on June 14th, 2021

Notebook und Becher © Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

A virtual workshop on aplastic anemia and PNH will take place on Monday, June 14th, 2021 at 5 p.m. Prof. Dr. Jörg Westermann from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin will inform you about the origin, diagnosis and treatment options for both diseases and is available to answer any questions. Afterwards, the participants have the opportunity to exchange experiences with one another.

The workshop is part of the DLH patient congress ( Deutsche Leukämie- & Lymphom-Hilfe eV ), which also offers numerous other workshops on, in some cases, cross-disease topics. Take a look at the program and register at https://www.dlh-kongress.de/der-kongress/online-anmeldung/ .

*** Attention! The workshop is not recorded so you cannot watch it later! ***



Collection of COVID-19 vaccination data from AA / PNH patients

Dear fellow AA and PNH patients,

Some time ago the first AA / PNH patients received their COVID-19 vaccination. But what effects do the vaccination or the COVID-19 disease have on our relatively small group of patients? In order to collect knowledge about this and to be able to make the results of science available for better care in the future, we are carrying out an international survey in cooperation with the Lichter Zellen foundation . The data is collected completely anonymously, i.e. without any personal or personally identifiable information. There is no way that your data can be assigned to you afterwards.

If you would like to receive further information or results about this survey or the AA / PNH register from us, you can enter your e-mail address after the survey. This is saved separately from the survey data.

The survey can be accessed under the following link: https://aa-pnh.org/umfragen/irvap/de/

Thank you in advance for your participation! You are helping all AA and PNH patients.

We would be delighted if, after answering the survey, you would inform other AA / PNH patients about it. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us by email at info (at) aa-pnh.de .

Exercise reduces risk of severe COVID-19 courses

It's no secret that exercise is good for our body: we have all heard or read somewhere that regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing metabolic or cardiovascular diseases, for example. For about a year, however, fitness studios and sports clubs have been closed and even an evening walk is made difficult in some places by a curfew. In short - the pandemic is not exactly making it easier for us to stay fit. Meanwhile, the large-scale British Journal of Sports Medicine study from the USA suggests that exercise is particularly important in these times: Almost 50,000 COVID-19 infected peopple were asked about their daily activitly level (looking back for the past two years before infection with SARS-CoV-2). The study was recently published. 14% of the respondents were physically inactive (≤ 10 minutes of exercise per week). 80% reported moderate activity (11-149 minutes of exercise per week) and 6% did steady 150 minutes of exercise per week. WEITER

Results of the PEGASUS study on APL-2

A recently published study from Leeds, England examines the effectiveness of the new drug pegcetacoplan on paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). Pegcetacoplan has not yet been approved for PNH therapy in Europe, but approval is currently being examined by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). For this reason, we would like to briefly introduce the drug and the study to you and first take a brief look at the blood formation disorder underlying PNH in order to understand how Pegcetacoplan works:

Normally there are certain proteins on the surface of the red blood cells (erythrocytes), which transport oxygen through our body. Among other things, these regulate the immune system and prevent the erythrocytes from being broken down prematurely as they circulate through the body. At the PNHWEITER

Introducing our addition to social media

Dear readers,

Since February 2021 I have been able to support the team of the Aplastic Anemia & PNH eV association in their work and would like to introduce myself to you below. My name is Katharina von Villiez and I am 25 years old. I have been studying medicine at the Charité, the university hospital in Berlin, since spring 2015 and am currently preparing for my written state examination.

The complexity and complexity of hematological diseases piqued my interest during my studies. In the hospital I got to know patients who suffer from various diseases of the blood, bone marrow or lymph glands and was able to gain insights into their individual stories, suffering and rays of light. For a month now I have had the opportunity to deal with this more intensively at the AA & PNH eV association: One of my tasks here is to write articles on important (current) topics on the association's website, especially with the association's chairwoman Ulrike Göbel. I also help with looking after the club's social media channels and with office work.

WEITER