Covid-19 reinfections are rare, unless you are over 65

Covid-19 reinfections are rare, unless you are over 65

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The study, which looked at reinfection rates among 4 million people in Denmark, found that most people who had Covid-19 appeared to have protection against reinfection for more than six months. In a follow-up after six months, the study found no evidence that protection was decreasing. But a check of the demographic data of who was being infected again showed that the majority were people aged 65 and over, reports Jen Christensen.

The older age group had only about 47% protection against repeated infections, compared to younger people who appeared to have about 80% protection against reinfection, the team wrote. The discovery is not entirely unexpected, as as people age, their immune system weakens.

“Given what is at stake, the results emphasize the importance of people adhering to the measures implemented to keep themselves and others safe, even if they have already had COVID-19,” co-author of the study Dr. Steen Ethelberg of Statens Serum Institut in Denmark said in a statement.

This advice is not being followed in parts of the United States, where governors are suspending measures to prevent its spread. Although almost 1 in 8 Americans is fully vaccinated, the country may be on the verge of a second increase, after the numbers of cases that have been declining in recent weeks have seemed to stabilize.

Chicago officials earlier this month increased internal capacity for bars, restaurants and other businesses, while Baltimore leaders said yesterday that they were easing restrictions on places like religious facilities, retail stores, shopping malls and fitness centers.

“We are in a race to vaccinate the population,” Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told CNN on Wednesday. “At the same time, we are fighting against the exhaustion of people with the restrictions that public health has imposed and we are fighting against the action of so many governors to remove the restrictions that are keeping us all.”

YOU ASKED. WE ANSWER.

P: I have a high BMI and I qualify for the vaccine. Does this mean that I am not healthy?

ONE: With obesity a factor in the eligibility of the Covid-19 vaccine, many Americans are struggling to discover their body mass index, or BMI. But experts say the meaning behind these numbers – and how to reduce them – is not always so clear.

The CDC lists obesity as an underlying medical condition and defines it as someone who has a body mass index between 30 and 40.

Having a BMI above 30 can lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and obesity increases the risk of a more serious reaction to Covid-19.

Having a high BMI, however, does not necessarily mean that you are not healthy. There are some rare cases where a healthy person may have an apparently unhealthy BMI. This includes weight trainers and people with an athletic build who have a lot of muscle, creating a high BMI index, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, co-director of the Weight Management and Wellness Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

If you are unsure whether your high BMI is due to fat or muscle, Apovian recommends consulting a weight loss specialist for more specific tests.

Submit your questions here. Are you a healthcare professional battling Covid-19? Send us a message on WhatsApp about the challenges you are facing: +1 347-322-0415.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY

A Chinese woman in Guangzhou with her baby in 2016.

Covid-19 expelled hundreds of Africans from Guangzhou. A generation of mixed-race children is their legacy

At the turn of the 21st century, the Chinese city of Guangzhou – which was already a magnet for internal migrants – became an accidental experience of multiculturalism in China, as loose immigration rules and factories producing cheap products drew crowds of African entrepreneurs. Business grew, and in 2012, about 100,000 sub-Saharan Africans migrated to the city, making it the largest community of African expats in Asia, reports Jenni Marsh.

But the pandemic has driven hundreds of Africans out of the city, unleashed the most severe anti-black racial clashes in China in decades, and has remade commercial operations, with Chinese factories connecting with African customers directly via e-commerce platforms. Those who remain are rooted because of their Chinese partners and children.

EU continues attack on AstraZeneca while revealing vaccine passports

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attacked AstraZeneca for alleged underproduction and insufficient delivery, blaming it in part for the slow implementation of the vaccine in Europe.

This is at a time when the EU drug regulator is preparing to issue guidelines on the safety of the vaccine after many countries have suspended its launches after reports of blood clots. The regulator has already stated that there is no evidence of a link between AstraZeneca injections and clots.

Von der Leyen emphasized that he trusted the Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, but warned that an export ban the EU brought during its recent dispute with the pharmaceutical company could be used if it felt that other countries were not exporting enough vaccines. .

The EU also unveiled its proposal for a “Green Digital Certificate”, or vaccine passport, to allow safe and free movement within the bloc during the pandemic. The certificate that confirms that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or has recovered from Covid-19 can be used in all 27 member states.

The Tanzanian president, who undermined his country’s Covid-19 response, died

After dismissing Covid-19’s seriousness, Tanzanian President John Magufuli died in a hospital in Dar es Salaam due to heart disease. At the beginning of the pandemic, Magufuli urged citizens to “pray for the coronavirus to end”, said “the satanic virus cannot live in the body of Jesus Christ”, and blamed the growing number of positive cases on defective test kits.

In June, he claimed that his country had eradicated the coronavirus “by the grace of God”, questioned the safety of foreign Covid-19 vaccines and made no plans to get any injections for his country, instead pressed for the use of herbal medicines and steam treatments. Tanzania has not released Covid-19 numbers since April 2020, which has prompted the World Health Organization to call on the East African country to publish data and increase public health measures.

ON OUR RADAR

  • Violence against Asian Americans increased in the United States, coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic. San Francisco police are now stepping up patrols after the recent attacks.
  • Former Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva urged the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to convene an emergency summit on the coronavirus, as the number of daily deaths Covid-19 has reached a new record.
  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ laissez-faire approach to the pandemic appears to be bearing fruit politically.
  • The United States Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, projected on Wednesday the optimism that autumn will bring an academic year “more similar to what it was before Covid”, but stressed that his focus remains the resumption of face-to-face learning. this spring.

TODAY’S PODCAST

“As if stepping on [the] scale was not emotionally charged enough, I had to do this in a waiting room full of people. “- Madeleine Thompson, associate producer at CNN Audio

Many states are making people with a certain BMI eligible for vaccines. But, since weight carries a lot of stigma, attending an appointment may not be as easy as it sounds. CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, hears from a co-worker about his personal experience of being vaccinated and how to navigate the complex relationship between weight and health. Listen now.

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