Study: Nail In Coffin Of Dangerous Concept Of Herd Immunity

amother

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 2:55 pm

https://www.theyeshivaworld.co......html

A new study by researchers in the United Kingdom debunks the theory of herd immunity to the coronavirus as the study found that recovered coronavirus patients usually lose their immunity within a few months, The Guardian reported.

The first-of-its-kind study, carried out by King’s College in London, discovered that there was a steep drop in the amount of antibodies in the blood of recovered virus patients after only several months, with only 17% of patients stilll having a “potent” antibody response three months after their illness. Some patients had no detectable antibodies after three months.

“People are producing a reasonable antibody response to the virus, but it’s waning over a short period of time and depending on how high your peak is, that determines how long the antibodies are staying around,” said Dr. Katie Doores, lead author of the study.

The significance of the findings is that the coronavirus could turn out to be like a regular cold, which can be caught or a yearly basis or even more often. In that case, the only option for immunity to the coronavirus would be a vaccine but if antibodies drop so quickly, the vaccine would not have long-lasting effects.

“Infection tends to give you the best-case scenario for an antibody response, so if your infection is giving you antibody levels that wane in two to three months, the vaccine will potentially do the same thing,” said Doores. “People may need boosting and one shot might not be sufficient.”

Prof Jonathan Heeney, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, said: “It puts another nail in the coffin of the dangerous concept of herd immunity.”

“I cannot underscore how important it is that the public understands that getting infected by this virus is not a good thing. Some of the public, especially the youth, have become somewhat cavalier about getting infected, thinking that they would contribute to herd immunity. Not only will they place themselves at risk, and others, by getting infected, and losing immunity, they may even put themselves at greater risk of more severe lung disease if they get infected again in the years to come.”

keym

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:25 pm

Ok.
So what's the solution?
According to this, vaccines won't help.
So we do masks, social distance, no school, tank the economy, never come within 6 feet of parents and grandparents forever?
These studies tend to have the opposite effect. Instead of motivating people to be more careful, people like my 92 year old grandmother will say "forget it, with these precautions. If I'm going to die from Corona anyways, I might as well hug the grandkids and have huge family parties."

liveandlove.ima

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:29 pm

keym wrote:

Keym. You literally took my words away...

Mama Bear

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:32 pm

Ein Od Milvado.
There's nothing conventional about this virus. A soon as everyone in the world will acknowledge that we cannot control this no matter how hard we try, it will go away.

amother

Periwinkle

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:36 pm

Yea, figured that. The only people I heard screaming herd immunity were frum people. Literally that’s it.

amother

Orange

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:38 pm

Agree mama bear and others!

amother

Linen

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:40 pm

amother [ Periwinkle ] wrote:

Yea, figured that. The only people I heard screaming herd immunity were frum people. Literally that’s it.

Because thats the only place that there was herd immunity- in some frum communities. Nobody said for sure that it would last forever, though.

Rubber Ducky

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:42 pm

If immunity wanes after only a few months then we really have a problem.

Can a vaccine give longer immunity than actually having the disease?

amother

Lawngreen

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:42 pm

I'm just wondering if there's a resurgence in China (Wuhan) or Italy. Maybe antibodies last longer than they think.
What about the Spanish flu. It did eventually go away

octopus

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:43 pm

But the regular cold is not regular! Its not the same cold you catch over and over again. Its a different one every time.

amother

Powderblue

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:46 pm

It will have to end up like RSV where everyone at risk gets expensive vaccines/antibodies monthly And everyone else just ignores it/ treats it like a regular flu

Ema of 5

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 3:51 pm

amother [ Linen ] wrote:

Because thats the only place that there was herd immunity- in some frum communities. Nobody said for sure that it would last forever, though.

The point is there ISN'T herd immunity. Just because people decided there is, doesn’t make it fact.

southernbubby

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 4:13 pm

Maybe there is short term herd immunity.

Mama Bear

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 4:17 pm

It's still herd immunity. let's say if a group of 20,000 invidivduals have immunity, they won't catch the virus. The 500 non-immune ppl among them are still in danger, but in less danger than in a community of 20,000 non-immune people. But it's short-term herd immunity. I never thought it would last forever. But it's lasting for four months at this point (there is no 2nd wave in Brooklyn [yet] bh). It's just a wait and see game.

amother

Bronze

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 4:26 pm

amother [ Lawngreen ] wrote:

I'm just wondering if there's a resurgence in China (Wuhan) or Italy. Maybe antibodies last longer than they think.
What about the Spanish flu. It did eventually go away

Hong Kong is reporting a 3rd wave. Spanish flu had 3 waves as well.

amother

Sienna

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 4:42 pm

amother [ Lawngreen ] wrote:

I'm just wondering if there's a resurgence in China (Wuhan) or Italy. Maybe antibodies last longer than they think.
What about the Spanish flu. It did eventually go away

The Spanish Flu mutated to a weaker strain. We still get it to this day, but are therefore no longer dying from it like we did then. This will happen to Covid-19. This "process" can take 2 years.

Told to me by a medical expert.

Ema of 5

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 4:42 pm

southernbubby wrote:

Maybe there is short term herd immunity.

At the end of the day though, that doesn’t really do anything for anyone....

gold21

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 4:52 pm

But isn't the point that this is a "novel" coronavirus and therefore more dangerous since our immune systems are unfamiliar with this virus?

So this study is suggesting that when it's no longer novel, it's still just as dangerous?

The story changes daily.....

amother

Linen

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 4:55 pm

Laiya

Mon, Jul 13 2020, 5:37 pm

First of all, it's not a "nail in the coffin" when it's not even a peer reviewed study.

The question yet to be conclusively answered is, Are antibodies the only way to have immunity? Here's an interesting recent article on the possible interactions of T cells, B cells, etc. in creating immunity, apart from antibodies.