Prior infection plus 3 vaccine doses proves best vs Omicron; neurological COVID symptoms can last months
By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) – The next is a abstract of some current research on COVID-19. They embrace analysis that warrants additional examine to corroborate the findings and that has but to be licensed by peer assessment.
Vaccination plus prior COVID greatest protects towards Omicron
Individuals who had been contaminated with an earlier model of the coronavirus and acquired three doses of an mRNA vaccine, such because the Pfizer/BioNTech shot, look like greatest protected towards symptomatic an infection by the Omicron variant, in keeping with a big examine.
Learning a couple of million individuals in Qatar through the Omicron wave in early 2022, researchers discovered that in unvaccinated individuals, immunity from an infection with an earlier variant diminished symptomatic Omicron BA.2 infections by 46.1%, in comparison with unvaccinated individuals with out earlier infections. The effectiveness of inoculation by the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine plus a current booster, however with out prior an infection, was 52.2%, whereas a earlier an infection plus three mRNA vaccine doses – so-called hybrid immunity – was 77.3% efficient towards Omicron an infection, in keeping with a report revealed on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Drugs https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2203965. Patterns had been related in recipients of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine.
“These findings show the advantages of vaccinating these with prior an infection for optimum safety towards the Omicron variant,” mentioned coauthor Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad of Weill-Cornell Drugs – Qatar in a press release. Whereas safety from the vaccine booster waned “quickly,” safety from earlier an infection held pretty regular for practically a yr, his crew discovered.
When Omicron did escape the physique’s first traces of protection, any type of immunity – whether or not from vaccination or pure an infection or each – “confirmed robust safety towards Covid-19-related hospitalization and loss of life, at an effectiveness of greater than 70%.”
Neurological signs of COVID-19 can final months
COVID-19-related neurological signs, resembling reminiscence and focus points, can final half a yr or extra in some sufferers, in keeping with a small examine.
Amongst 27 sufferers who had such signs weeks after recovering from COVID-19, solely 9 reported full decision six months after becoming a member of the examine, researchers reported on Wednesday in Annals of Scientific and Translational Neurology https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acn3.51578. The remaining 18 nonetheless had nervous system abnormalities – most frequently, impaired reminiscence and hassle concentrating – though usually the signs had grow to be much less extreme. “A few of these members are high-level professionals who we would anticipate to attain above common on cognitive assessments, however months after having COVID-19, they’re nonetheless scoring abnormally,” Dr. Jennifer Graves of UC San Diego Well being mentioned in a press release. Most examine members had delicate or reasonable COVID-19. Graves mentioned she suspects the neurological signs are brought on by an immune response to the virus.
In 4 sufferers, her crew noticed a beforehand unidentified set of signs that included cognitive deficits, tremor and problem balancing. “These are people who had no neurological issues earlier than COVID-19, and now they’ve an incoordination of their physique and doable incoordination of their ideas,” mentioned Graves. “We didn’t anticipate this.”
Click on for a Reuters graphic https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl on vaccines in improvement.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Modifying by Invoice Berkrot)
