Editor’s Note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance from Medscape Coronavirus Resource Center..
If you are among the people of the United States who have never been infected with COVID-19, what should you think about your risks?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of people in the United States belong to the COVID category, which is never available.
The CDC estimation By the end of January, 43.4% of the United States had developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 caused by infection rather than vaccination. This suggests that nearly 60% of people have never been infected.
Currently, the obligation to mask has been lifted, and the number of daily cases and deaths has plummeted.according to New York Times TrackerThe number of new cases in the last two weeks has decreased by 51%, and the number of deaths during that period has decreased by 30%.
So should they be more or less worried about the risks than previously infected responders, as those who have previously escaped the virus will go further into the reopened environment?
Some experts consider carefully not to feel invincible.
There is no “armor suit”
Dr. William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, said: Medscape Medical News Science has not been able to identify why some people were able to remain COVID-free when the virus was rampant and exposure was ubiquitous.
Dr. William Schaffner
Some believe he has never been infected with COVID, but it is important to remember that he may be asymptomatic or the mild symptoms may be due to something else. Said.
“People probably have different capabilities to get rid of viruses and bacteria, but we can’t define them yet,” Schaffner said.
Do some people have a better immune system or genetic component or environmental reason to be less susceptible to infections? “Medical science in 2022 can’t define it, but it can,” he said.
More is known as to why people exposed to the same COVID may have different levels of illness severity.
“If they have a list of predisposing conditions, they are more likely to get a serious illness — if they are old, if they are frail, they have an underlying illness. If you have, or obesity.. All of this clearly impairs the body’s response to the virus. “
He warns uninfected people not to assume that they have an “armor suit.”
Everyone should continue to follow vaccination guidance, and vaccinated people should continue to be boosted, Schaffner said.
“Clearly, the data show that vaccination and boosting are much safer to protect from severe illness,” he said.
Even if COVID develops a respiratory infection, he still needs to be tested for COVID, Schaffner said.
He said that both vaccines and previous natural infections provide protection, but the duration of that protection is not yet known.
“We must always pay attention,” Schaffner said. “In the future, there may be recommendations such as getting boosters every year. We need to open the door to future people.”
Dr. Ameshua Dalha
Dr. Ameshua Dalha, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Health and Security Center in Baltimore, Maryland, says it is unclear why some people were able to avoid COVID.
“The explanation is likely to be multifactorial and includes the possibility of behavior and specificity to the genetically based immune system,” he said. “In some cases, an unclear infection has occurred and has not been diagnosed.”
However, Adalja agrees that it is not the time to be overconfident in the risk-taking that COVID is concerned about.
“People who are not intentionally infected with COVID need to be vaccinated and then make sure they are protected from the serious illness caused by the virus,” he said.
Genetic protection?
new study of Nature Genetics Explain the potential genetic relationships. The authors of the study found evidence that expression levels of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) help regulate blood pressure. Wound healingAnd inflammation, but has also been shown to act as a gateway to cells for some coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 — impacts the risk of COVID-19.
Dr. Manuel Ferreira
Dr. Manuel A. Ferreira, Executive Director of Analytical Genetics at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, said: Medscape Medical News The ACE2 receptor (what he calls the “gateway” for SARS-CoV-2 to enter the body) is different in people who inherit a particular allele.
Researchers have found that alleles are associated with a reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
“It’s pretty substantial-a 40% risk reduction if you have an allele that reduces ACE2 expression,” he said. However, they could not tell from this study whether it could predict the severity of the disease.
The team also examined a series of six genetic variants elsewhere in the genome and created risk scores to see if they could predict who would be susceptible to severe COVID.
According to Ferreira, this score only slightly improved predictive power beyond factors such as age, gender, weight, and comorbidity. Further information, according to Ferreira, will help improve the ability to predict the likelihood of developing a serious disease based on genetics.
“As we identify the genetic risk factors for COVID (mutants such as the ACE2 mutant that affect the risk of COVID), the risk score will become more informative,” he said.
Some of the authors of the Nature Genetics article are current and / or former employees of Ancestry DNA and may hold shares in Ancestry DNA. Some are Regeneron employees and / or hold shares in the company. Ferreira is an employee of Regeneron and holds shares in the company. Schaffner and Adalja report that there is no relevant financial relationship.
Marcia Frellick is a freelance journalist based in Chicago. She has previously contributed to the Chicago Tribune, Science News, Nurse.com and was the editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, Cincinnati Enquirer, and St. Cloud (Minnesota) Times. Follow her on her Twitter @mfrellick..
Follow Medscape for more news. Facebook, twitter, InstagramAnd YouTube.
