COVID and Natural Immunity???

S

Shiftless2

Well-known member

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant​

Type of the virus first detected in November 2021​



Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has spread to become the predominant variant in circulation around the world. Following the original B.1.1.529 variant, several subvariants of Omicron have emerged including: BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, and BA.5. Since October 2022, two subvariants of BA.5 called BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 have emerged.
Three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine provide protection against severe disease and hospitalisation caused by Omicron and its subvariants. For three-dose vaccinated individuals, the BA.4 and BA.5 variants are more infectious than previous subvariants but there is no evidence of greater sickness or severity.
More from Wikipedia / Wikipedia text under CC-BY-SA license

The yearly "flu shot" common in the U.S. is specific to only some, not all influenza strains. To manufacture enough of this vaccine to supply every patient in the U.S. that receives it scientists have to estimate, or guess what actual influenza strain will circulate through the population that year. BUT !!

There are some reports that a universal influenza vaccine is being sought. No recent word on progress.

from sear's notes:

Influenza only has 8 genes (humans have ~20K).
Two of those 8 genes are responsible for getting the virus into and out of a cell.
Viri enter, or penetrate a cell using the Hemagglutinin gene; referred to as "H". But penetrating the cell isn't enough. After it penetrates and replicates, the replicants need to exit that cell to infect the entire host.
The gene for that is Neuraminidase, N.
In birds, there are 16 different kinds of H gene, and 9 different kinds of N. Every flu is some combination of those.
Humans have only caught a few.
The 1918 influenza virus, H1N1, killed ~50M; ~3% of Earth’s human population.
Hong Kong Flu is H3N2.
Avian flu is H5N1.​
 

Should you get the updated COVID vaccine? Here’s the latest guidance for the fall​

Health Sep 13, 2023 5:09 PM EDT
As COVID cases rise across the U.S., people ages 6 months or older will now have access to an updated COVID vaccine to protect them against severe illness and death. The shots are expected to be available as soon as this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The updated vaccine is designed to better protect against current variants. It was officially recommended Sept. 12 by both the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and CDC Director Mandy Cohen. The Food and Drug Administration also endorsed the updated shot this week.
The PBS NewsHour spoke with Dr. Payal Patel, an infectious disease physician at Intermountain Health in Utah, about what to know about the latest vaccine.

To find where you can schedule an appointment for the updated COVID vaccine, go to vaccines.gov.

Who should get an updated COVID vaccine?​


https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health...accine-heres-the-latest-guidance-for-the-fall
 
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