Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ezB6STvvuaM

 

Here are a group of questions from a YouTube viewer Jan Kerry.  

 

?First: what about testing for the ANTIBODIES in the people that have had Covid ALREADY?  Is there a test for that?

 

There are readily available CoVid #antibody tests that will tell you if you have anti-CoVid antibodies indicating you’ve been exposed to the Covid19 virus.  Many of the tests do not measure neutralizing antibodies against the spike protein but antibodies against other viral proteins such as the nucleocapsid protein.  aTherynd cannot tell you just how immune to the virus you may be.

 

I’m paraphrasing Jan’s next question: Do people who had CoVid need #vaccination? Do we test them and asymptomatic people for antibodies?  If positive, do they need vaccine?

 

The answer is that everyone, even those who developed antibodies to CoVid from a natural exposure, need vaccination.  The available vaccines produce orders of magnitude higher levels of protective antibodies than natural infections and exposures.  These antibodies likely last longer too.

 

This chart shows antibody levels before and after vaccination for healthcare workers antibody positive.  Note that the levels of antibody rose exponentially after vaccination.

 

What’s the death rate from CoVid?

 

The answer is country dependent.  The US case #fatality rate is about 3.6% overall, but it’s 4 times higher in Italy with less available healthcare.  The death rate is age dependent with almost 15% of those 80 years and up dying.  But the death rates from CoVid are astronomically higher than from the flu.

 

Will we ever get rid of CoVid and its variants?

 

Let’s talk about the variants first.  The faster we get everyone vaccinated and immune, the faster we stop variant evolution.  Variants occur as the virus replicates within infected persons.  Even so, most virologists and epidemiologists think that CoVid year-to-year will be similar to influenza.  That means yearly vaccinations with boosters.  Depending upon the quality of the vaccines, you’ll need testing, masking, distancing, washing.  Some virologists hope that we can develop a universal coronavirus vaccine against a part of the virus that cannot mutate and eradicate the disease.  We can hope but don’t count on it.

 

Thanks to Jan for her questions.

 

#CoVid #antibodies #vaccination #variants