Vaccines alone may not be enough to end the pandemic.

-

 

Vaccines alone may not be enough to end the pandemic.





Even as vaccines are becoming more readily available in the U.S., protecting against the asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 is key to ending the pandemic, say two Georgetown infectious disease experts.

In their Perspective, "SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Without Symptoms" published March 18 in the journal Science, Angela L. Rasmussen, Ph.D., and Saskia V. Popescu, Ph.D., MA, faculty affiliates of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center, make the case that symptomless transmission silently drives viral spread and is key to ending the pandemic.

"Determining the true transmission capability of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases is inherently complex, but knowledge gaps should not detract from acknowledging their role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2," the authors write.

"We can't rely on vaccination alone to control the pandemic," says Rasmussen. "Vaccines are great for protecting people against disease, but we don't yet know how well they work to protect against transmission."

Rasmussen says that it would be unlikely that a vaccine that protects well against disease from a biological perspective would not protect against infection. "But just like the vaccines don't offer a hundred percent protection against getting sick, they also aren't a hundred percent likely to protect against transmission."

Also, while vaccines reportedly will become widely available in the U.S. by summer, that is not the case in the rest of the world, where the pandemic continues unabated.

"Asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission poses a unique challenge for public health and infection prevention mitigation efforts," says Popescu. "Ultimately, this is something we will need to continuously keep our eye on as we move into the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and a reduction of disease due to vaccinations."

Rasmussen and Popescu conclude, "Until there is widespread implementation of robust surveillance and epidemiological measures that allow us to put out these smokeless fires, the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be fully extinguished."


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PEOPLE WITH OBESITY BURN LESS CALORIES DURING THE DAY

-
Image
  PEOPLE WITH OBESITY BURN LESS CALORIES DURING THE DAY Building on prior studies with healthy-weight participants, the new research includes different body sizes.         New research indicates that weight influences how and when bodies burn energy. An Oregon Health & Science University study published in the journal  Obesity  found people who have a healthy weight use more energy during the day, when most people are active and eat, while those who are obese spend more energy during the night when most people sleep. The study also found that during the day, those with obesity have higher levels of the hormone insulin -- a sign that the body is working harder to use glucose, an energy-packed sugar. "It was surprising to learn how dramatically the timing of when our bodies burn energy differed in those with obesity," said the study's first author, Andrew McHill, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the OHSU School of Nursing and the Oregon Institute of ...
Read more

WHAT CAUSES ITCHING, AND WHAT STOPS IT?

-
Image
  WHAT CAUSES ITCHING, AND WHAT STOPS IT?         It can be a relief to scratch the occasional itch, but when itch gets out of control, it can become a severe health problem. How does the body know when to stop? Scientists at UC San Francisco are getting close to an answer. In a breakthrough that could transform how doctors treat conditions from eczema to allergies, they have discovered a feedback loop centered on a single immune protein called IL-31 that causes the urge to itch and dials back nearby inflammation. The findings, published on October 13th in  Science Immunology , lay the groundwork for a new generation of drugs that interact more intelligently with the body's innate self-regulating ability. Previous approaches suggested that IL-31 signals itch and promotes skin inflammation. However, the UCSF team discovered that nerve cells, or neurons, that respond to IL-31, triggering a scratch, also prevent immune cells from overreacting and causing more ...
Read more

A VEGAN DIET IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY

-
Image
  A VEGAN DIET IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY         In a study with 22 pairs of identical twins, Stanford Medicine researchers and their colleagues have found that a vegan diet improves cardiovascular health in as little as eight weeks. Although it's well-known that eating less meat improves cardiovascular health, diet studies often need to be enhanced by genetic differences, upbringing, and lifestyle choices. By studying identical twins, however, the researchers were able to control for genetics and limit the other factors, as the twins grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles. "Not only did this study provide a groundbreaking way to assert that a vegan diet is healthier than the conventional omnivore diet, but the twins were also a riot to work with," said Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor and a professor of medicine. "They dressed the same, they talked the same, and they had a banter ...
Read more