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Catching omicron ‘does not protect you against future infection’
www.msn.com
© Provided by The Telegraph Omicron
Catching omicron does not protect people from a future infection from the variant, Imperial College has found, as scientists said it explained why cases remain stubbornly high.
Throughout the pandemic, studies have shown that a previous infection provides immunity against catching Covid again, as well as often protecting against other variants.
But new research has found that there is virtually no extra immunity boost from getting omicron, leaving people at risk of being reinfected from the strain.
The study may help explain why cases are continuing to rise, even though huge numbers of people have now been infected with Covid.
The latest update from the Government’s coronavirus dashboard from June 9 shows that Covid cases in England rose 64 per cent in the previous week, while hospitalisations increased by 33 per cent.
He added: "Not only can it break through vaccine defences, it looks to leave very few of the hallmarks we’d expect on the immune system – it’s more stealthy than previous variants and flies under the radar, so the immune system is unable to remember it."
In the latest study, the team sought to find out why so many people have been reinfected with omicron, often quite soon after their initial bout.
The team analysed blood samples from UK healthcare workers who received three doses of mRNA vaccine, and who had different infection histories, to investigate antibody, T and B cell immunity.
They found that in people who were triple vaccinated and had no prior infection, an omicron infection provided an immune boost against previous variants such as alpha, beta, gamma, delta and the original ancestral strain, but virtually nothing against Omicron itself.
People infected during the first wave of the pandemic and then again with omicron also lacked any immune boosting, an effect the researchers have termed "hybrid immune damping".
"A concern is that omicron could potentially mutate further into a more pathogenic strain or become better able to overcome vaccine protection.
"In this scenario, people who have had omicron infection would be poorly boosted against future infection depending on their immune imprinting."
The research was published in the journal Science.
www.msn.com
© Provided by The Telegraph Omicron
Catching omicron does not protect people from a future infection from the variant, Imperial College has found, as scientists said it explained why cases remain stubbornly high.
Throughout the pandemic, studies have shown that a previous infection provides immunity against catching Covid again, as well as often protecting against other variants.
But new research has found that there is virtually no extra immunity boost from getting omicron, leaving people at risk of being reinfected from the strain.
The study may help explain why cases are continuing to rise, even though huge numbers of people have now been infected with Covid.
The latest update from the Government’s coronavirus dashboard from June 9 shows that Covid cases in England rose 64 per cent in the previous week, while hospitalisations increased by 33 per cent.
'Omicron and its variants are great at breakthrough'
Professor Danny Altmann, from Imperial’s department of immunology and inflammation, said: "The message is a little bleak. Omicron and its variants are great at breakthrough, but bad at inducing immunity, thus we get reinfections ad nauseam, and a badly depleted workforce."He added: "Not only can it break through vaccine defences, it looks to leave very few of the hallmarks we’d expect on the immune system – it’s more stealthy than previous variants and flies under the radar, so the immune system is unable to remember it."
In the latest study, the team sought to find out why so many people have been reinfected with omicron, often quite soon after their initial bout.
The team analysed blood samples from UK healthcare workers who received three doses of mRNA vaccine, and who had different infection histories, to investigate antibody, T and B cell immunity.
They found that in people who were triple vaccinated and had no prior infection, an omicron infection provided an immune boost against previous variants such as alpha, beta, gamma, delta and the original ancestral strain, but virtually nothing against Omicron itself.
People infected during the first wave of the pandemic and then again with omicron also lacked any immune boosting, an effect the researchers have termed "hybrid immune damping".
'Omicron could mutate further into a more pathogenic strain'
Professor Rosemary Boyton, from Imperial’s department of infectious disease and lead author, said: "Getting infected with omicron does not provide a potent boost to immunity against reinfection with omicron in the future."A concern is that omicron could potentially mutate further into a more pathogenic strain or become better able to overcome vaccine protection.
"In this scenario, people who have had omicron infection would be poorly boosted against future infection depending on their immune imprinting."
The research was published in the journal Science.
