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[EN VIDÉO] How to boost your immune system? A good diet helps to strengthen its natural defenses. This is not the absolute guarantee of not getting sick, but helps the body in the fight against germs and infections. Here are the 6 elements to focus on.
There are two ways for theimmunity produce antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 : be vaccinated or be naturally infected with the virus. The two immune responses are not equivalent; the nature of the antibodies, their quantity or even their neutralizing power are all parameters studied and compared by scientists. The goal is not to determine which is the best but to understand what differentiates them.
More and more neutralizing vaccine antibodies
A recent studypublished in Scientific Reports and carried out within the hospital of National Institutes of Health, in Bethseda, studied the levels of anti-RBD antibodies and their neutralizing power in the serum of vaccinated or naturally infected individuals. It appears that the titer of anti-RBD antibodies after the injection of a vaccine at mRNA is 17 times higher than after natural infection. Their neutralizing power is also 17 times greater against a variant containing the N501Y mutation, known to increase the affinity of SARS-CoV-2 for its receptor presented on the host cell.
Numerous and highly neutralizing, vaccine antibodies seem to be the most effective in combating SARS-CoV-2 variants despite their ability to escape. Nevertheless, the study suffers from several shortcomings: the neutralization tests are simplified and do not take into account the complex parameters involved in the SARS-CoV-2 – host cell interaction (number of receptors on the surface of the cell, for example).
In addition, the variant analysis focuses on the single N501Y mutation. If this mutation has a central role in the escape from immune system variants which carries, it is not the only one. Alone or in combination, other mutations influence antibody recognition and their neutralizing power.
Immunity after a natural infection varies greatly between individuals, some develop large amounts of antibodies, others do not. In the samples analyzed here, natural immunity persists for about nine months compared to six months for vaccine immunity. But, to guard of Covid-19, vaccination is always the most reasonable solution; its serious side effects are rare and temporary. The natural infection exposes her to significant risks of severe Covid-19, but also to long-term disabling symptoms still poorly treated by doctors.
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