Validation: Johns Hopkins Physicians Address Questions and Concerns About Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19

Houston — The validation team is working hard to distinguish between facts and fiction, addressing viewer concerns about COVID-19, vaccines, and treatment options.

Submissions received from viewers Dr. Ameshua Darha, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins.

Claim: If you had COVID-19 more than a year ago, you still have antibodies and do not need to be vaccinated.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: There is a risk of reinfection. Even a single vaccination boosts your immunity to a higher level than a fully vaccinated person. Therefore, it is recommended that those who have recovered should be vaccinated at least once to boost their existing immunity, especially if months to a year have passed since the first infection. increase. “

Claim: There is a new strain of COVID-19 called Delta Plus.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: One of them is called by the colloquial name DeltaPlus. It looks like a delta variant with some additional mutations. Don’t panic about it. However, it doesn’t seem to behave like a delta. However, as the virus continues to evolve and infect people, we should expect them to become more variants. “

Claim: If a fully vaccinated person is infected with the COVID delta mutant, that person’s immune levels will be elevated by the combination of the vaccine and their own natural antibodies.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: People who have been vaccinated and infected have been found to have a very strong level of immunity. Probably higher than if any of these categories were not infected. Therefore, natural infections give you some immunity. However, it is best to get infected after being vaccinated. That way, the cost of getting that innate immunity will be more predictable and often milder. “

Claim: It is possible to take a test to see if they had the original COVID-19, Delta variant, or Lambda variant.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: “There is no clinical way to distinguish between these three strains. What kind of strain do people have when we sequence a virus isolated from people, a genetic material from the nose? I know what it was. But unless you’ve saved those samples for a long time, this isn’t something you can see and do in the past. It does not change, so it is very difficult for an individual to identify the version of the virus that has been infected. However, if you are currently infected, in September 2021 you will have nearly 100 delta variants of the virus. % Will be certain. “

Claim: Lambda variants of the COVID-19 virus are resistant to previously produced vaccines.

NS. Dr. Adalja said, “”There is no resistance to what is important, severe illness, hospitalization, and death. There are some early reports that lambda variants have some mutations that cause vaccine problems. However, I think it is very important to remember that vaccines were not designed to stop all infections. They were to stop a serious infection. And in that regard, none of the mutations we’ve seen so far actually match vaccines for significant consequences such as hospitalization or death. “

Claim: Vaccines make your body make spike proteins, and those proteins seem to make the COVID-19 virus. These spike proteins can damage internal organs.

NS. Dr. Adalja said, “”It’s true that the vaccine induces your body to produce spiked proteins, but your immune system can see it. These five proteins are not very long-lived and there is no evidence that these speplomer proteins are damaging your body. Peplomers are really needed for the vaccine to work, and it has no effect on health. “

Claim: If someone waits 6 months to get a second dose of the second vaccine, it’s still effective.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: “A second dose after a period of 3 or 4 weeks will still work. In fact, there is evidence that they may be more effective. In some countries, this interval There is some evidence that a second dose will further boost your immunity if you have more space. The magical interval between 3 and 4 weeks There was nothing like that. It was used in clinical trials. That led to FDA approval. There are studies that support the use of these two shot intervals. Even if you miss a second dose, if you procrastinate, you will get the same effect whenever you can take it. It may be even more effective than someone who took it on time. “

Claim: If you are infected with COVID-19 and have recovered before vaccination, your response to the vaccine will be stronger.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: “We have found that people who already have existing immunity to innate infections tend to show stronger vaccine side effects, especially after the first dose of a double-dose regimen. It is with the vaccine you are interacting with. It’s the effect of innate immunity. Those people are really, really, really strongly protected. The combination of innate immunity and vaccine is probably the highest level of immunity we see. “

Claim. Antibody therapy Regeneron is made from fetal stem cells.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: “It’s true that fetal cell lines were used to test and develop regenerone monoclonal antibody cocktails, but it’s the standard for many, many drugs that people take every day, so this makes no difference. Fetal cell lines are an important part of biotechnology and form an important basis for developing new drugs. Many people are taking developed drugs, vaccines, and fetal cell lines. , Because it is the standard approach for certain technologies used in the biopharmaceutical world. “

Claim: If I get COVID and get a blood transfusion, I can donate antibodies.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: “When donating blood, we often donate red blood cells. The antibodies you may have from recovery will be different components of the blood. Early on, individuals for recovery plasma transfusions. Efforts have been made to collect what is called plasma from blood cells, but it has not actually shown any effect. However, your plasma has antibodies to COVID-19, but they are actually sufficient. The amount is not robust enough to actually have a significant impact on convalescent people. Plasma data is very complex as to whether it was beneficial, but it has a heyday in the early stages of the pandemic. But now there is a better way to treat Covid-19, and there are synthetic antibodies like Regeneron that can be used for the same purpose. “

Claim: Zinc helps boost the immune system against COVID.

do not know. Dr. Adalja said, “There’s a lot of evidence for this. It’s not something people should count on. I don’t think taking zinc lozenges will hurt anyone. It may have a mild effect. But it’s not definitive and care shouldn’t be delayed. I think there’s still a lot to understand about zinc and its ability to reduce the symptoms of the common cold-causing virus. One of them is Sars-Cov-2. “

Claim: Vitamin D3 helps boost the immune system against COVID.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: “There is evidence that people who are deficient in vitamin D are more likely to get COVID-19 and more likely to get severe COVID-19. In fact, the British government once raised levels. It provided vitamin D to many citizens. Therefore, vitamin D plays an important role in immune function, and people are normal vitamins to fend off COVID-19 as well as other respiratory disorders. It should be considered as a general health measure to make sure that you have a D level. Not only is it general, but it also improves their general health. “

Claim: If you have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and it seems that it is not adequately protected from the delta variant, you should get a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine to further protect yourself.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: I think there is some data that needs to be sifted. When it comes to the importance of facing the delta variant, I’ve never seen the Johnson & Johnson vaccine decline. Not many people have been vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson who have been hospitalized for severe illness or have died of COVID-19. It really seems to be holding up. Eventually, you may have some data that you want to boost. Anyone who has a Johnson & Johnson vaccine now, I hug him tightly and wait for more data. Seems to be resisting the important things. “

Claim: After recovering from COVID-19, you need to throw away the lipstick foundation sponge and makeup brush.

NS. Dr. Adalja said: It should not be shared with others in the first place. But if you’re using it on your own, there’s no reason to worry that it’s a risk of infection. Infections from these types of devices and these types of substances are extremely rare. “

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