Covid-19: Study suggests that previously infected people are more protected than vaccinated people

Study recruited previously infected and unvaccinated people and others double vaccinated and never infected

People previously infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus may be more protected against long-term reinfection than those who were just vaccinated, suggests a study that will be presented in April in Lisbon.

“Although over time the number of antibodies drops in both previously infected and vaccinated patients, antibody performance improves only after prior infection (and not vaccination). This difference may explain why previously infected patients seem to be more protected against a new infection than those who were just vaccinated.

This study, which will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, which will take place in Lisbon, from 23 to 26 April, also mentions that, contrary to expectations, patients with obesity and previously infected presented a "more taller and more sustained' than those who were overweight or normal weight.

"Although protection against reinfection lasts a long time in patients recovered from SARS-CoV-2, infections are increasingly common six months after vaccination," the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases said in a statement released yesterday.

The researchers looked at the humoral (antibody-induced) immune response in people who had recovered but were not vaccinated against Covid-19, and compared it with those who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine but had no previous infection.

The study recruited previously infected and unvaccinated people and others doubly vaccinated and never infected and ended in April 2021, shortly before the Delta variant arrived in Israel.

The researchers found that antibody numbers one month after vaccination were higher than those of recovered Covid-19 patients, however, these values ​​also declined more sharply in the vaccinated group.

“The avidity index (the quality of antibody performance) was higher in vaccinated individuals than in initially recovered patients. However, up to six months avidity did not change significantly in vaccinated individuals, while it gradually increased in recovered patients and potentially protected them from reinfection.

“Against expectations” – the statement added – the level of antibodies in recovered patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher (obesity range) was higher at all times when compared to those with a BMI below this value, “suggesting that people with obesity who had been previously infected were better protected against future infections than those who were overweight or normal weight and had been infected previously”.

 



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