(Press-News.org) Even vulnerable people, who are at risk of severe Covid-19, achieved good antibody levels after three doses of mRNA vaccine. This is shown by a study from the University of Gothenburg on patients having undergone a bone marrow transplant or with liver disease, including cirrhosis.
The aim of the study, which has been published in the journal Infectious Diseases, was to investigate the effects of repeated vaccinations and hybrid immunity against Covid-19 among particularly vulnerable individuals. Hybrid immunity refers to the protection provided by vaccination in combination with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The results demonstrate how levels of Covid-19 antibodies build up following each successive vaccine dose in those with a fundamentally deficient immune defense. This is a field where there remains limited knowledge.
Equivalent after the third dose
The study included 38 patients with liver cirrhosis, 36 bone marrow transplant recipients, 14 patients with autoimmune liver disease, and 20 healthy controls. All patients were cared for at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The patients were monitored for Covid-19 antibodies after their first, second, third, and for some bone marrow transplant recipients, their fourth vaccine doses. None of the participants had had Covid-19 before the second dose, but 31 of them had a mild Covid-19 omicron variant infection between the second and third doses.
Those with deficient immune defense due to liver disease or having received a bone marrow transplant had less protection than the controls up until after the second dose of the vaccine. Following the third dose, however, the groups had equivalent levels of antibodies.
Regardless of their level of underlying immunity, all groups included in the study showed antibody levels that were ten times higher after Covid-19 infection compared to those who had acquired their immunity through vaccination alone.
Unexpectedly good protection among the vulnerable
Three doses of mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 thus resulted in high antibody concentrations even in immunocompromised individuals, and hybrid immunity resulted in even higher levels.
Martin Lagging is a Professor in Clinical Virology at the University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska Academy, a senior physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and the study’s last author.
“It was unexpected – but extremely pleasing – to note that vulnerable individuals achieved antibody levels on a par with the healthy ones after three doses of vaccine,” he explains. “This underlines the importance of continuing to vaccinate, even if the immune response is poor after the first doses.”
END
Three doses of COVID-19 vaccine leads to catch-up antibody responses among the particularly vulnerable
2023-08-01
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
UCSF Medical Center is among nation’s top hospitals for 2023-24
2023-08-01
UCSF Medical Center Is Among Nation’s Top Hospitals for 2023-24
U.S. News & World Report ranks UCSF Health adult care among nation’s top 10 hospitals in 7 specialties, Best in the West for neurology/neurosurgery and rheumatology
UCSF Medical Center has been named to the Honor Roll of the nation’s top hospitals for adult care in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 Best Hospitals rankings, representing the highest quality of care and safety standards in the country.
The distinction was earned by only 22 medical ...
Immigrant nurses in long-term care facilities often have more “human capital” compared to American-born nurses, MU researcher finds
2023-08-01
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- When assessing the skills and competencies or “human capital” of long-term care registered nurses in the United States, studies often focus solely on years of experience and traditional educational backgrounds. However, a new study conducted by a nurse scientist now at University of Missouri found that by incorporating additional criteria, such as ability to speak multiple languages, additional certificates or trainings and licenses to practice in multiple states, immigrant nurses often represent far more human capital than their American-born counterparts.
Roy Thompson, a postdoctoral fellow in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing ...
New insights into heterotopic ossification: Progenitor cells play a key role in aberrant bone formation
2023-08-01
In a new study published on 21 July 2023 by the journal Bone Research, a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University, using a combination of lineage tracing and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), delved into the contribution of synovial/tendon sheath progenitor cells to heterotopic bone formation. The researchers identified a distinct population of Tppp3+ tendon progenitor cells that actively participated in the formation of ectopic bone in vivo. Their findings provide new insights into the intricate cellular processes driving heterotopic ossification and offer potential therapeutic targets to prevent and ...
Where Black adolescents live affects their mental health
2023-08-01
It’s easy to imagine that growing up in a neighborhood with safe and clean parks, little to no discrimination, and where people are not struggling financially makes for a lower-stress childhood. In contrast, neighborhoods with few community spaces, violence, and poverty create a higher-stress environment for a child to live in. Unfortunately, systemic and structural issues such as wealth inequality, residential segregation, barriers to home ownership, and environmental injustice in neighborhoods where Black American adolescents disproportionately reside make ...
Amazon dark earth boosts tree growth as much as sixfold
2023-08-01
A type of soil called terra preta da Amazônia, or Amazon dark earth (ADE), promotes faster growth of trees and enhances their development in qualitative terms, according to an article published in the journal Frontiers in Soil Science.
The findings reported in the article resulted from studies supported by FAPESP (projects 20/08927-0, 18/19000-4 and 14/50320-4) under the aegis of its Biodiversity, Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use Program (BIOTA).
“ADE is rich in nutrients and supports communities of microorganisms that help plants grow, among other things. Native people of the Amazon have ...
Sweet smell of success: Simple fragrance method produces major memory boost
2023-08-01
Irvine, Calif., Aug. 1, 2023 — When a fragrance wafted through the bedrooms of older adults for two hours every night for six months, memories skyrocketed. Participants in this study by University of California, Irvine neuroscientists reaped a 226% increase in cognitive capacity compared to the control group. The researchers say the finding transforms the long-known tie between smell and memory into an easy, non-invasive technique for strengthening memory and potentially deterring dementia.
The team’s study appears in Frontiers in Neuroscience. ...
Links between attention and conscious perception highlighted in frontoparietal networks
2023-08-01
Almost half of patients who experienced a stroke in the right cerebral hemisphere later develop a very unusual symptom: they lose the ability to perceive what is happening in the left side of space. As a result, they tend to eat only the right side of their plate, ignore people on their left, and have great difficulty finding their way around. This disorder, known as hemispatial neglect, does not involve basic visual abilities, which remain intact.
“These patients see very well. The problem ...
NIH awards Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia $26 million grant to develop therapies for rare newborn genetic diseases
2023-08-01
PHILADELPHIA—A Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) team will seek to develop treatments for three rare, incurable genetic diseases with the help of a $26 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The research will focus on three genetic diseases that impact newborns in the first weeks and months after birth: Phenylketonuria (PKU), hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 (HT1), and mucopolysaccharidosis type 1 (MPSI), commonly known as Hurler’s Syndrome. PKU causes an amino acid—called phenylalanine—to build up in the body, and as long as treatment begins at birth, PKU is ...
False claims attacks on infrastructure focus of NSF-funded research
2023-08-01
False claims and disinformation, especially in a social media-driven society, have become major problems with potentially severe consequences. Kash Barker, Ph.D., principal investigator and the Anadarko Presidential Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Gallogly College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma, is leading a team of researchers examining indirect attacks targeting infrastructure systems via unwitting users, supported by a $599,947 grant from the National Science Foundation's Secure ...
New survey reveals British public generally think disruptive, non-violent protesters should not be imprisoned
2023-08-01
Despite this prevailing negative sentiment, results showed the public generally think the most suitable punishment for disruptive, non-violent protesters is a fine or lesser penalty than imprisonment.
The research, led by the University of Bristol, suggests public opinion may not be supportive of the Government’s recent legislative changes, through The Public Order Act 2023, which introduce harsher sentences for disruptive protesters.
The online poll, conducted by YouGov this month, surveyed 2,069 adults of all political viewpoints across Britain. ...