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Vaccination Dramatically Lowers Long Covid Risk
(www.scientificamerican.com)
As a immunocompromised individual. Thank you to everybody who is continuing to get boosted. I love you all
Counting down the days to #7!! 💉 💉 💉 💉 💉 💉 🥳 🎉
Whoa wait - I’ve only had 5 and I thought I had all the ones that were offered and recommended for my age group. My most recent was this past September, I guess I should look into when I’m due for #6. Thanks!
Woah seven? If you dont mind, what's your condition that calls for that many?
I'm staying current on flu, but multiple physicians have advised me that the most recent COVID vaccine isn't applicable for normal, healthy folks
Edit: I'm not furthering an antivaxx perspective here, I've had 4. I was curious where in the world, or under what conditions 7 is the current recommendation.
I'm not them, but I've also had 6 shots.
My condition is wanting to minimize the likelihood of passing covid on to someone who is less able to fight it off.
Right but the reasoning for not going for the newest was described as the newest is not effective for the current variant, and would not improve chances beyond the base of 3 (or 4 based on product).
I'm not antivaxx or sealioning, that's what I was told and I'm curious.
The XBB.1.5 vaccine will cover JN.1, it’s just not a perfect match. This isn’t like XBB and the BA.5 vaccine.
Whoever told you that might be incompetent.
2 very busy ICU docs who deal with many flu, COVID and other respiratory critical illness. If you must know, both democrats, completely non-maga non-rogan types.
I'll take their advice, as I did on getting the flu shot a few weeks ago.
If you have a source suggesting the current vaccine is recommended for younger, healthy folks, I'd love to discuss it with them.
ICU docs who deal with many flu, COVID and other respiratory critical illness
While almost certainly not incompetent at their jobs, they have little reason to have specific knowledge of vaccine efficacy. Without some active immunological research component (which an ICU doctor is unlikely to undertake), they are practitioners seeing a self-selecting population and drawing conclusions from anecdotal evidence. You may as well ask an auto mechanic what they think of a newly formulated fuel additive. Not a slight to the doctors, but a recognition that it's not their specialty no matter how many vehicles they see.
I've read the same thing - that the current iteration of the vaccine is not specific to the most prevalent version of Covid at the moment and is not exceptionally effective at preventing infection. But I've also read that the prevalence of complications from the most recent strain are substantially decreased for those who have gotten (the|a recent) vaccine booster. I wouldn't trust me or my knowledge either though, as I'm not a doctor, much less a degree in immunology. For my information I usually get updates from a good friend who has her PhD in immunology, worked in a lab for two decades, and is now a scientific writer for an immunological journal and sees many of the new research papers coming out.
Personally, it costs me nothing financially to get the vaccine and my reaction is minor at worst with no down time. Same as influenza. OTOH, I stand to lose a great deal, financially, if I get sick (no work=no income) so I will continue to get boosted as new versions come out and I'm eligible.
Here's Canada's official immunization guideline. This isn't new either, that's been the recommendation ever since the 3rd shot or so. Every new shot has been recommended to be taken for all immunized adults, 6 months after the previous. The ones following the guideline have done 6 shots by now.
oh yeah well i had all of my appendages replaced with needles so i'm better
I am now happily married to a needle and started a family of human-needle hybrid children. So. :p
Resistance to a disease for zero effort? I'll take it.
Isn't herd immunity an amazing thing?
people who’d had three doses of the COVID vaccine were 68.7 percent less likely to develop long COVID compared with those who were unvaccinated.
That’s pretty big news.
That news is 2-3 months old. It's too bad the news organizations decided COVID is over.
I guess it depends on where you’re going for news. My local NPR affiliate frequently reports out on regional trends for flu and COVID.
This is probably preaching to the choir, but long covid is pretty nasty stuff. If you are able to regularly get vaccinated against covid and the vaccines are also effective at lowering risk of long covid, then get vaccinated.
I'm traumatized after seeing the effects of long covid on a family member. The covid infection itself wasn't great, mind you, but the after effects have been awful.
It's been 2 long and difficult years since the initial covid infection. There was a point when things were on the right trajectory in terms of recovery, but if I'm actually being honest with myself, it was false hope. The person I used to know isn't ever really, fully coming back. It's traumatic for them because they know they aren't the same. It's traumatic for me because I lost the caring, intelligent, thoughtful, loving, empathetic person I used to know while also watching them suffer from delusions, depression, and all manner of issues while fully realizing that something is wrong without knowing what or how to fix/change it.
a single dose of the COVID vaccine reduced the likelihood of long COVID by 30 percent.
people who’d had three doses of the COVID vaccine were 68.7 percent less likely to develop long COVID
I’m so happy I got my fourth booster a while back.
"Today rates of long COVID have dropped, likely thanks to increased immunity, milder variants and improved treatment." I've been listening to TWIV (This Week in Virology) since March of 2020. I don't think they would agree with all of that statement. 1. Increased immunity makes sense given we've been exposed to the disease itself and/or vaccines. 2. Milder variants - every time this idea comes up, someone on TWIV will cite data (morbidity and mortality) showing it's just plain not the case. 3. Improved treatment - perhaps, but not much has changed since Paxlovid, Molnupirivir were introduced in late 2021. Prevention, that is, Handwashing, Masking, Distancing, and in the case of infection Isolation all help to break the chain of transmission. These are behavioral changes, that anyone can choose to do. And they are effective, just take a look at rates of influenza in 2020, when everyone was being cautious, the rates were extremely low. When we got bored with prevention the numbers came back up, e.g. 2021, 2022, and 2023. And there's a 5th measure, Jala Neti, or Nasal Rinsing, typically with salt water, mechanically removes the virus particles, and bacteria. Adding a small amount of 1% Baby Shampoo to the Neti solution does a lot to inactivate viruses, and kill bacteria.
Citation: Lowering the transmission and spread of human coronavirus - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32940907/
Long comment just to try to get people to rinse out their nasty nose.
Ya gotta build a bridge to understanding, and then to action. Besides, I spent a fair amount of that verbiage reviewing the 4 Behavioral Changes That Effing Worked.
Me sitting over here like 🙋🏼♀️I had all my shots and still haven't had COVID
Let's see if that changes though with upcoming travel an a tolerance break. 😬😷
I’m pretty sure I had it last month. Tested negative the entire time though. Feel fine now but tastes still a bit weird.
I got my fourth booster in October along with my flu shot and had no side effects at all. It was simple, and has saved me a lot of worry especially now that the flu is spreading so quickly. And in my view, it's a matter of civic responsibility to take such precautions.
I keep taking my asthma meds not just for asthma but because they noticeably reduce covid symptoms
Glad I already had 3 shots before I finally caught it a couple of months back. Already got the new booster last Oct as well.
Interesting, was just wondering about that, as a separate thing I'd seen was that repeated exposure to COVID seemed to actually increase your chances of experiencing Long COVID. I still wonder how that factors into it, even if you have been vaccinated multiple times, will it help with repeated exposure to COVID over time (likely we won't know for awhile, but this seems to suggest it would)?
Yet another thing that vaccinated people can point to that shows we were right and the antivaxxers were wrong, though obviously they'll not bother to care about this new data point if they've not cared about it before, but at least they'll have that Long COVID to keep them company.
Most reinfection studies were done on people who contacted it more than once in a year IIRC, and COVID suppresses T cell levels for nearly a year, or sometimes even more.
I'm not sure we can say more infections = higher risk per infection, but each additional infection is another roll of the dice in any case.
One virologist coined the term, "ARDS Roulette". I don't want to play that game.
I'd be interested to see whether this holds for all the COVID variants. Especially since the virus is now endemic and will continue to mutate. Obviously, they'll keep researching and we'll see in time.
The most recent vaccines have a broad scope to protect against multiple variants.
I have seen multiple other reports that said getting vaccinated raises the risk for long COVID and now I don't know what to believe, although this sounds better.
I'm at 4. Haven't read/heard enough to proceed with more. I figure if my employer hasn't mandated another booster, than I'll hold off.
COVID isn't going anywhere anytime soon. For me, I'll continue getting them indefinitely, regardless of whether my employer mandates them or not. You have a higher chance of long COVID each time you contract it, so if vaccines decrease that risk, it's a no brainer IMO.
I'm aware that Covid is a permanent pest in our rotation of illnesses. I personally will wait until science settles on a combo flu/covid vaccine that should provide widest variant coverage.
Any reason to hold off? If you react badly to the shots, I can understand that, but otherwise there’s little harm in getting the shots you can get now, and if a combo vaccine ever does come out you can get that then :). Seems the science is saying more boosters is probably better, which makes sense, so I’m going for them personally. I figure even if the booster knocks me on my ass the real disease would be worse. It’s your decision ultimately, and I’m happy you got vaccinated and boosted in the first place, but if you don’t react poorly to it I say go for it! Might as well get all of the advantages you can :).
My wife's family (including her) are all sick with covid. That's 5 people. They all skipped this year's booster (due to negligence), and I was the only one to take it.
My wife was the first to test positive on the 26th, I of course spent the most time with her, went to all the same gatherings, hugs, etc. I have spent hours (masked up) in urgent care and ER, in enclosed spaces like cars and homes, taking care of her and her parents. I have tested negative daily.
The boosters work. Please, for you and your loved ones that would be burdened should you need serious care, keep up with the boosters.
I'm fucking exhausted.
I'm glad you dodged it this time. Hopefully you miss it going forward. I've also been in close contact with known positives. I'm negative.
I'm just not convinced of the necessity of additional boosters until the time that everyone gets onboard with the same idea of a one vaccine to cover flu & Covid.
There's not going to be one vaccine to rule them all (with the current tech). Covid, just like the flu, is widely distributed and mutates quickly. The boosters every year target specific strains that they think will be prominent during high season (now).
Every year, expect new boosters that target different strains from the previous year. The viruses evolve, and so must the vaccines.
Yeah, I grasp the concept. Just like the flu shot being a gamble of which strain will be most prevalent.
I know Moderna is in clinical trials for a one shot combo.
As you can read... I'm just not convinced I need another booster. You should be glad I'm 4 deep. There are millions at zero or 2.
Just like the flu, the virus is mutating. Boosters may not always target the newest mutation, but they're closer to it than the previous year's booster. Further, over time your immune system will gradually "forget" how to fight viruses it hasn't seen in a long time. Both of these are each reason enough to get annual vaccinations for COVID and the flu.
Devil's advocate:
We still have quite some way to go before we fully understand long COVID and the lowered levels of long COVID could simply correlate with lowered levels of COVID related hysteria.
Before you downvote, I'm not saying long COVID isn't a real phenomena, I'm saying that correlation doesn't always equal causation.
this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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