The latest takeaways from IHME: Regional updates: China continues the zero-COVID strategy and reports no increase in cases. South Africa may be reaching a peak of the BA.4/BA.5 winter surge. The United States is experiencing an increase in Omicron cases – likely due to behavioral changes, and possibly due to […]
As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations begin to increase again in the U.S., public health officials are monitoring several new Omicron subvariants that are contributing to the case numbers. In some parts of the U.S., a spinoff of the BA.2 subvariant called BA.2.12.1 is the main culprit. In other countries, Omicron […]
A South African study based on blood samples found that the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages of Omicron were more likely to evade antibodies produced by previous Omicron infections than the immunity provided by vaccinations. Scientists took blood samples from 39 people infected with Omicron, with 24 people not vaccinated and […]
Cases of COVID-19 show signs of rising among the over-55s, raising the possibility that the pandemic could be prolonged by the spread of the BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant, a study has suggested. Increased socialising and waning immunity after vaccination could be behind the development, scientists led by a team […]
Antibodies derived from natural infection with COVID-19 are more abundant and more potent – at least 10 times more potent – than immunity generated by vaccination alone, according to a study from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, US, published on January 25. Three days later, the US Centres for Disease […]
It’s a matter of quality, not quantity. That’s the gist of a new Israeli study that shows that unvaccinated people with a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection create antibodies that are more effective in the long run compared with others who were vaccinated but never infected. “While the quantity of antibodies decreases with […]
Researchers of an unpublished study have claimed that one-fifth of people who have had COVID-19 do not have a specific type of antibodies and therefore may not have adequate protection against future infections. The study tested volunteers with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection for the presence of a type of antibody […]
Many nations are pursuing the rollout of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines as an exit strategy from unprecedented COVID-19-related restrictions. However, the success of this strategy relies critically on the duration of protective immunity resulting from both natural infection and vaccination. SARS-CoV-2 infection elicits an adaptive immune response against a large breadth of […]
his transcript has been edited for clarity. Welcome to Impact Factor, your weekly dose of commentary on a new medical study. I’m Dr F. Perry Wilson of the Yale School of Medicine. We’ve talked a lot about the concept of herd immunity during this pandemic, but mostly in the context […]
The best protection against COVID-19? Getting vaccinated, not waiting for illness to create natural immunity, says infectious disease expert Anna Durbin. A common reason cited for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19—especially among the young and healthy—is “I trust my immune system” or some variation of that line. The same goes […]
