A study coordinated by the Immunopathology group of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz Minas), in partnership with the Harvard University School of Medicine, found that the natural immunization generated by human antibodies when contracting Covid-19 can trigger a series of inflammations.
The study showed that when immunization is generated by vaccines, this risk does not occur, which further reinforces the importance of vaccination against the virus. The survey comes at the same time that the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa F. Etienne, urged countries to remain vigilant and urgently fill “the vaccination gaps”.
Previous studies already pointed out that severe forms of Covid-19 were related to the generation of excessive inflammation generated by SARS-CoV-2, but the dynamics of this inflammatory process were still not well understood. The analysis performed indicates that when the virus enters the body, the defense system is activated to fight the infection. For this, a specific type of antibody, called afucosylated, is produced.
This antibody is often able to neutralize and prevent the virus from reaching lung cells. However, on the other hand, this body’s defense process ends up triggering the production of new defense cells, which generate an inflammatory cascade, as explained by researcher Caroline Junqueira, coordinator of the study.
“The inflammatory processes triggered are mainly the cytokine storm and the release of molecules into the circulation. All these cytokines and molecules, which are inside cells, are seen by the immune system as a way to potentiate this systemic inflammatory response. When you have inflammation, the idea is to eliminate the pathogen. But when the immune system itself activates this elimination, it generates exacerbated inflammation,” Junqueira said.
These processes of exacerbated inflammation do not happen with immunization from vaccines against Covid-19, which shows the risks of so-called herd immunization.
“This means that if you get Covid, you develop pathogenic antibodies, that is, antibodies that can cause disease. When you get the vaccine, you develop protective antibodies. In other words, the idea that if you catch Covid you are ‘vaccinating yourself’ is wrong. In other words, the infection generates harmful antibodies, and the vaccine produces beneficial antibodies”, said the study coordinator.
This reinforcement in relation to the importance of vaccination has been corroborated by other studies, such as the one published in a note published by PAHO on Wednesday (6). The organization issued an alert calling attention to the fact that 240 million people have not yet received any dose of the vaccine in the Americas.
Despite the significant drop in cases and deaths from Covid-19, Carissa pointed out that there has been an increase in cases in Europe and East Asia as a result of Ômicron BA.2 and that the dynamics of infection that occurred in the Old Continent is usually reflected in the Latin American countries a few weeks later.
“We cannot ignore the risk of further outbreaks of Covid-19. But now we know what it takes to protect our people”, said the director referring to immunization through vaccines, who added that the low vaccination in some places “will keep our region at risk during future waves”.
Source: CNN Brasil
