Unvaccinated omicron recovered unprotected

Unvaccinated omicron recovered unprotected

A laboratory study by the Institute of Virology at the Medical University of Innsbruck examined the immune status after infection with the omicron variant of the coronavirus. It was found that omicron genes that had neither recovered from another variant nor been vaccinated had hardly any neutralizing antibodies against other variants. In the APA interview, virologist Janine Kimpel therefore also called on this group to be vaccinated.

“Multiple contact with the virus protects,” emphasized Kimpel. She recommends that anyone who has been infected with the Omicron variant should also be vaccinated. This can be derived from a recently completed study by her institute. Kimpel and her team studied neutralizing antibodies in the blood of people who had recovered from the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The immune response was tested against six different variants of the coronavirus, specifically the “wild type” D614G and the known alpha, beta, delta, gamma and omicron variants. The study population was divided into four groups based on immune status. Fifteen participants were vaccinated prior to their omicron infection, 13 unvaccinated and recovered from a pre-omicron variant, ten both vaccinated and previously recovered, and 15 neither recovered nor vaccinated. The Innsbruck virologist emphasized that it was the first study to take these different groups into account in connection with the omicron variant.

A blood sample was taken from the subjects five to 35 days after their first positive PCR test. The sera were then mixed with the virus of each of the six variants, Kimpel described the procedure. “If neutralizing antibodies have been formed, they bind to the virus,” explained Kimpel. To test whether this was the case, the sera mixed with the virus were then contacted with cells. If they became infected with the corona virus, it meant that there were no neutralizing antibodies against the respective variant.

Vaccinated people showed a high immune response, Kimpel summarized the results. The same applies to those who have had Covid 19 disease for the second time and were previously infected with a different variant. On the other hand, those subjects who had neither recovered nor been vaccinated before had formed mainly neutralizing antibodies against the omicron variant and only a few against other variants.

“That’s not surprising,” commented the virologist. It is known that the vaccination is not aimed at the omicron, but rather at predecessor variants. Studies that had already been carried out had also shown that unvaccinated people infected with the alpha or delta variant were only inadequately protected against the omicron variant. In addition, based on previous studies, it was already known that vaccination protection decreases significantly within a few months, but that the immune response is better when you have recovered and been additionally vaccinated or even boosted.

Kimpel reminded that the booster vaccination also protects against severe courses. “Despite the high incidence and many infections with the omicron variant, everything should be done to achieve a high vaccination rate,” summed up the virologist. The results of the study were published in a preprint paper on Thursday and have not yet been reviewed by peers.

Source: Nachrichten

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