Researchers said the study s results raised the possibility that pain relievers such as ibuprofen could alter the immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Colleen Kelley, an associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, who was not affiliated with the study, speculates that an altered response could be caused by reducing inflammation triggered by the immune system.
“The immune system generates a response through controlled inflammation. (Pain relievers) can reduce the production of inflammatory mediators,” she said. “So, this is the potential mechanism for a reduced immune response to vaccination if you take these medications.”
But Dr. Marian Michaels, a member of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s COVID-19 vaccine advisory committee, says studies have shown the immune system responds differently to the COVID-19 vaccine than it does to natural infection.
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IMAGE: Associate professor of pediatrics, emergency medicine and radiology, University of Pittsburgh, and medical director of point-of-care ultrasound at UPMC Children s Hospital of Pittsburgh. view more
Credit: David Wallace
PITTSBURGH, Jan. 29, 2021 - A study led by UPMC Children s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine shows that Black children are 18% less likely to get imaging tests as part of their emergency department visit compared to White children. Hispanic children are 13% less likely to have imaging done than Whites.
The researchers suggest that this disparity results from overuse in White children, though underuse in minority children probably plays a part as well. The root cause likely stems from both patient preferences and implicit bias among providers.
MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images
Johnson & Johnson said Friday that its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine reduced rates of moderate and severe disease, but the shot appeared less effective in South Africa, where a new coronavirus variant has become common.
Overall, the vaccine was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe disease 28 days after vaccination. But efficacy differed depending on geography. The shot was 72% effective among clinical trial volunteers in the U.S, but 66% among those in Latin America, and just 57% among those in South Africa. Though markedly below the levels seen with the first two authorized Covid-19 vaccines, those rates are above the thresholds originally set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a vaccine to be considered useful.