UK coronavirus vaccines triumph IS helps keep Covid at bay for long, British experts insist

It is the dreaded condition that affects around two million Britons, but for more than two years after its emergence it remains a mystery to scientists.

Wrecking patients with months of headaches, body aches, and debilitating fatigue, Lung Covid has left many victims, regardless of age, underlying health condition or vaccination status.

But earlier this year, a study published by Israeli scientists suggested that it is no longer a threat to most people.

The study of 3,000 people who contracted Covid found that those who received the two vaccines were up to 70% less likely to contract Covid in the long term than those who were not vaccinated.

British experts have since added that Britain’s triumphant vaccination schedule, where more than half the population has received three doses and many have received a fourth additional dose, means that long-term protection against symptoms may be even higher.

But research published last week seemed to shatter those hopes. A US study of more than 30,000 double-vaccinated people, documented in the journal Nature, found that the two vaccines reduced the risk of long-term symptoms by up to 15 percent.

So what’s going on? And how worried should we be?

First of all, it is important to define the long Covid.

Patients can be divided into two groups. The first includes those hospitalized with severe Covid symptoms and the second includes those whose Covid disease was mild at first but continued or worsened later on.

Patients in the first group may have suffered severe damage to vital organs such as the lungs or heart. As a result, their recovery can take months. Because Covid vaccines are so effective at protecting against serious illness, doctors agree that very few of these patients currently exist.

But most long-term Covid patients in the UK belong to the latter group. Some struggle with shortness of breath and fatigue, unable to work or perform simple tasks.

Doctors still don’t know what causes the condition in these people, but there are several theories.

The first is that the symptoms are due to reservoirs of the virus remaining in certain parts of the body after infection. A study conducted in the USA in 2021 found that Covid cells remain in the gut for months after infection.

Experts say that if that’s true, it’s possible for anyone infected, even triple hit, to have long-term Covid. But his chances would dwindle.

Senior clinical professor Dr. “The whole point of Covid vaccines is to train the immune system to find and destroy Covid in your body, so after three shots the virus will be difficult to hide,” said David Strain. University of Exeter School of Medicine. However, it is possible for the virus to still pass through the immune system in small numbers and remain in the body.

Another theory is that the virus may cause the immune system to malfunction and attack healthy cells. If true, three shots should not only reduce the long-term risk of Covid, but also reduce how long patients feel sick.

A US study of more than 30,000 double-vaccinated people, documented in the journal Nature, found that the two vaccines reduced the risk of long-term symptoms by up to 15 percent. So what’s going on? And how worried should we be?

“The vaccine prepares the immune system for Covid shock and prevents it from getting overdrive if you get infected,” said Professor Manoj Sivan, a specialist in rehabilitation medicine at the University of Leeds. “If this theory is correct, it’s much more likely that the immune system will be functioning normally again soon.”

Dr. The same research by A.D. shows that the risk of developing the condition after two injections is now just over 9%: the risk of developing it in the unvaccinated is about 14%. These figures follow an analysis published in February by the UK Health Safety Agency, which showed that two doses of the vaccine reduced the long-term risk of Covid-19 by around 40%.

Dr. “You should also remember that your chances of catching Covid in the first place are much lower,” Strain says.

Experts say it’s too early to have definitive data on the long-term impact of the three strikes on Covid, but the risk will decrease further.

So why do so many Brits seem to develop this condition?

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 1.3 million people have experienced Covid symptoms for at least three months. And official data shows that the number of cases is not decreasing, but is increasing at roughly the same pace as last year.

Experts say there is a simple explanation for this: For a long time, Covid will undoubtedly increase with the number of infections.

At the height of the Omicron wave in January, the UK registered more than 180,000 new cases per day. The long-term incidence of Covid has also increased, but not significantly.

Senior clinical professor at King’s London College, Dr. Claire Steves said: “The steady increase in taller Covid patients, but not fevering as fast as before they had the vaccines, is proof that the vaccines work.”

There have also been questions about the reliability of National Bureau of Statistics data, which has long been based on people’s judgments about whether they are showing symptoms of Covid.

Experts say that a large number of problems associated with the condition, including fatigue, depression and difficulty concentrating, can be caused by something else.

If true, most of these millions of cases may not be Covid for long. “There are many different very long-term symptoms of Covid, but most of them are not specific,” said Professor Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Institute of Genetics. “Some people can get Covid because they are tired and have no motivation and then become depressed, which is very normal when you get sick with a virus.”

But what about the US study that found that strokes reduce the long-term risk of Covid by only 15 percent?

“This research presents a number of important problems, which means it probably doesn’t provide an accurate figure,” says the professor. balox

“We just looked at the conditions of US military veterans, i.e. older people in the average population who were less responsive to blows in the first place. They were also more likely to have adverse side effects from Covid because of their age.”

A long-term risk of Covid has not disappeared. Some studies say protection against infection can last up to a year after three injections, but others say it can take more than three months for the most vulnerable.

A greater risk of infection means a higher chance of developing disease in the long run.

Dr. “Covid isn’t going anywhere for a long time because Covid isn’t going anywhere,” Steves says.