Being vaccinated and then contaminated would offer an exceptional level of immunity, called “super immunity”. What is it exactly? Does it also work the other way around, i.e. getting infected and then vaccinated? Futura takes stock of the subject.
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[EN VIDÉO] Coronavirus: you may already have antibodies without knowing it Without ever having been infected, some people show antibodies reacting to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. This particularly concerns children, who are highly exposed to various seasonal viruses, and suggests the existence of cross-immunity. Can we then hope that catching a good cold will protect us from Covid-19 infection?
L’immunity is our body’s ability to fight pathogens. The body is said to be immune if it is able to fight off a virus or bacteria when affected. Vaccines allow the body to encounter a decoy of the pathogen to teach it how to defend itself. Thus, he will be able to react when confronted with the virus in reality. In the case of the Covid-19, it would seem that the body’s response to the virus increases tenfold when it actually detects it after being vaccinated. Good news in the current context where the WHO predicts that half of Europeans will be infected with Omicron by mid-March.
Vaccinated then contaminated…
The concept of “super immunity” was first mentioned in a study, published in the jama-network on December 16, 2021, comparing the immunity of people vaccinated and then infected with the SARS-CoV-2 to that of people vaccinated but never infected with the virus. The first group of people had a rate ofantibody impressive, 1000 and up to 2000% more than in the second group. More interestingly, the antibody people from the first group (vaccinated then contaminated) had greater capacities to neutralize different variants of the virus compared to the second group.
…But also contaminated and then vaccinated!
A new study, recently published in the journal Science Immunology, this time focused on the immunity of people infected and then vaccinated. The study shows that the immunity conferred by an infection with the coronavirus followed by a vaccination or vaccination followed by infection with the virus provides the same level of protection against re-infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
In both situations, the level of immunity against the virus is very high. Indeed, the level of antibodies conferred by one or other of the scenarios is at least 10 times higher than that observed in people who have benefited from vaccination but who have never been infected. In both cases, not only are the antibodies present in large quantities, but they are much more powerful in fighting the virus. Here too, the authors speak of “super immunity”. This study was conducted before theemergence of the Omicron variant, but many elements lead to believe that these results are also valid for this variant of the coronavirus.
Should we therefore seek to be contaminated after having been vaccinated to obtain this super-immunity? Of course not ! Voluntarily catching Covid-19 means exposing yourself to the risk of having a serious form or having a Covid-19 long and being unable to work normally for months. Catching Covid-19 voluntarily also means encouraging the circulation of the virus and the emergence of new variants, potentially more dangerous.
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