Catching disease to prevent disease?

i had to stop and read Seattle Times News article “UW Study: Catching COVID Can Protect You From The Worst Effects.” If you recover without a long COVID, don’t worry about future complications. You don’t catch disease to avoid it. The first sentence of the article states: What is “permanent temporary protection”? Although durable, it is temporary and nothing lasts longer than 10 months.

This research Pooled data found protection The proportion of ancestral strain infection to Omicron BA.1 reinfection was 78% for hospitalization but only 45.3% for reinfection. At 40 weeks, protection against BA.1 reinfection decreased to 36.1%. This protection is expected to be even less effective with the highly immunoinvasive XBB.1.5 and BQ.1.1 variants. They now account for 80.2% and 12.1% of the isolates each in the United States.

Today, COVID-19 infection may confer immunity equal to or greater than the original two-dose vaccine. But don’t celebrate. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pre-Delta vaccination had a clear advantageBut early in the pandemic, we were warned that if the public did not widely embrace public health measures, the virus would spread and mutate, eventually rendering vaccines ineffective. I admit that I didn’t cover the current variants well enough. This is why it is so important to receive new bivalent boosters.

Avoiding hospitalization is an important goal. But even mild infections often lead to prolonged her COVID with mental, cardiac, and immunological consequences. The onset of these sequelae can be delayed, resulting in long-term disability, Total deaths after acute period (0.84% ​​excess mortality after the acute phase).

Since the beginning of the pandemic, some researchers have suggested that infection strengthens innate immunity. Fringe elements often refer to Sweden as the prototypical offspring of this approach. However, the Swedish results are disappointing. the country is on fire Due to significant data delays and underreporting in the first year of the pandemic. What is agreed is that Sweden has implemented few obligations and minimal masking in the public sector. The country’s vast size and small population helps keep the spread of the disease in check, but compared to her Nordic neighbors Finland and Norway, Sweden has had far more deaths from her COVID-19. . (1595, 928, 2310/million respectively).

Herd immunity was not achieved in Sweden. According to Swedish national epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, during the Spring 2021 surge, the COVID-19 case incidence reached 454 cases per 100,000 people, a “very high number.” In one area, the incidence reached 981. Death tolls spiked again in Sweden recently In the winter of 2022/23. During this surge, the overall case fatality rate was 0.87%, similar to other countries.
Economically 2023 Sweden expected It is the only country projected to experience the worst recession in the European Union and contract rather than grow.

also in sweden There have been two major surges in respiratory syncytial virusthis is because the country has not implemented a strict COVID-19 strategy Poor immune function after COVID-19As in other countries, acute COVID-19 may have damaged immune defenses. In addition, a portion of the population is expected to develop as reported in other countries. long-term heart damage and damage to the central nervous system.”

SARS-CoV-2 is a dangerous virus. Senator Rand Paul said on February 9, 2023:U.S. Foreign Relations Committee hearings say 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19, an estimated 5 to 18 million died worldwide.SARS-CoV-2 enhanced gain-of-function It cannot claim to be a modified virus, but no one claims it is not a serious threat.

Unfortunately, neither vaccination nor infectious diseases offer lasting protection. Hybrid immunity is bestbut getting infected to acquire immunity is a risky strategy.

recently FDA At the Vaccines and Related Biologics Advisory Committee meeting, the topic that COVID-19 infection resembles vaccination was proposed for future consideration. This makes it possible to administer a booster or vaccine once after acute infection. Regardless of the final decision, there are minimal downsides to boosting immunity and avoiding his COVID in the long run. Our goal as a country should not be to reinfect each year. This is not a viable option.