WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - Young adults previously infected with Covid-19 are still at risk of catching the disease again, according to a study of US military personnel that highlights the importance of vaccinating even those who have tested positive for the virus.
About 10 per cent of 189 people who had been infected once, most of them 18- to 20-year males, later became reinfected, according to a study of 2,346 US Marine Corps members published on Thursday (April 15) in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal. The study took place between May and November 2020.
Access to Covid-19 vaccines has become less secure in Europe as many countries have restricted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to their older populations due to its link with the rare form of blood clotting. Some, including Denmark have halted the use of the shot, while in the US, public health advisers have paused the use of Johnson & Johnson s vaccine on similar grounds.
Having COVID doesn’t guarantee immunity, study of Marine recruits finds Recruits train aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. (Lance Cpl. Devin Darden/Marine Corps) Have you had COVID? Think you’re immune from it in the future? Think again, according to the results of a new study of Marine Corps recruits. Ten percent of the recruits whose blood tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies before training were re-infected with COVID while in basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. The findings make a strong argument for healthy young Americans to get vaccinated, according to researchers.
Scientists tie platelet factor 4 to AstraZeneca COVID vaccine-related clots
UK researchers have uncovered the novel mechanism behind rare abnormal blood clotting seen in some AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine recipients, according to a study today in the
New England Journal of Medicine.
The study involved clinical and lab evaluation of 23 previously healthy patients who experienced blood clots and thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) 6 to 24 days after receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Most clots were cerebral venous thrombosis, while some were arterial thrombosis and venous thromboembolisms such as pulmonary embolisms.
Twenty-one patients had antibodies for clot-promoting platelet factor 4 (PF4) on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) before heparin administration. They appeared to be of the immunoglobulin G (IgG) subtype. Functional heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) testing confirmed the positive PF4 ELISA result in five of seven patients tested.
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IMAGE: Stuart Sealfon, MD, Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai view more
Credit: Mount Sinai Health System
Although antibodies induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection are largely protective, they do not completely protect against reinfection in young people, as evidenced through a longitudinal, prospective study of more than 3,000 young, healthy members of the US Marines Corps conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Naval Medical Research Center, published April 15 in
The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Our findings indicate that reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 in health young adults is common says Stuart Sealfon, MD, the Sara B. and Seth M. Glickenhaus Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and senior author of the paper. Despite a prior COVID-19 infection, young people can catch the virus again and may still transmit it to others.
The Lancet Respiratory Medicine: Past COVID-19 infection does not fully protect young people from reinfection eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.