“When you get immunized (naturally or by vaccine), B lymphocytes (cells of the defense system) produce antibodies. The antibodies stay in a higher concentration for a while, then their concentration decreases. We do not know how close the link between antibody concentration (titer) and protection is. And it doesn’t mean that if we have few antibodies now, we won’t be protected. That’s because we are left with B lymphocytes with memory, “says the doctor, who points out that in Israel, for example, where most citizens are vaccinated with the third dose already, it is not recommended and no one determines the concentrations of antibodies to decide whether vaccination is appropriate or not.
Psychiatrist: Antibody experts
“If you ask a citizen on the street what side the liver is on and what the spleen is used for, chances are that more than half of them will not be able to answer your first question, but more than three quarters of both,” the doctor remarks.
But when it comes to antibodies, we all seem to be experts, the new belief of the Romanian being that if we “went through the disease we have antibodies, namely we were immunized at COVID-19 since the tests done show that”, the expert also shows . He briefly explains how immunity works: “We have a militarized division in the body. We call them “white blood cells” or “leukocytes.” There are several types, but in the sense of the following lines we are mainly interested in two: neutrophils, respectively lymphocytes. The latter are also of many kinds, and go through multiple lines of maturation and diversification. The organ where lymphocytes go to “school” is the spleen. In this school they proliferate polyclonally, as in Star Wars. They are “selected” for certain surface receptors that later function as detection sensors and links in the immune cascade. Respectively, they reach the capacity to act effectively against the enemy “.
There are lymphocytes that kill directly and others that kill indirectly. “Like a real commando in depth, some wander aimlessly through the body, ready to enter the device at any moment. Others lie in the barracks, our lymphoid organs (lymph nodes, Peyer’s patches in the intestine, appendages, tonsils). In particular, a lymphocyte line has the ability to release immunoglobulins (Ig). Immunoglobulins are proteins with a particular shape, adapted to the aggressor and its properties. At the beginning of the fight we secrete IgM (immunoglobulins M, from the Greek letter Miu), respectively IgA (from the Greek letter Alpha) or IgE (from Epsilon), depending on what is happening and where it is happening “, adds the doctor.
Antibody level – immunity, imperfect relationship
The role of IgM and IgA is to alert a first fighting contingent to its target: “The measurable amount of immunoglobulins tells, somewhat, about how hard the immune fight can be, regardless of how we feel about the disease. The immune system, at this stage, constantly recruits, trains, multiplies white blood cells and then sends them to war. If you do tests for infection, you will see that you can have 2-3 times more leukocytes than normal. IgG (immunoglobulins G, or Gamma, or gamma-globulins) are instruments of immune artillery. They are very effective, and most often solve the problem of the immune “theater of operations”. Things can go crazy at any of these times, but in various pathologies the quantity, quality or chain of command on IgG derails.
In COVID-19, we have the ability to measure both IgM and IgG. That is, both the acute phase antibodies and the witnesses of the fight we fought with the infection “.
Consequently, if it was a “short” fight, not much ammunition is consumed. “If it was given only in the nose and throat, the mark of immunity will be of a kind. But if it gets into the nose, throat, lungs, other target organs, we will have higher amounts of antibodies. There is no perfect relationship between the number of antibodies and the immunity acquired after the disease. The correlation is finer at the lower end, where mild infection = fewer antibodies = lower immunity. From one point of the infection, medium or severe, the response tends to become widespread (we call it “systemic inflammation”), “explains the expert.
“People have been interacting with coronaviruses since ancient times. As a result, “we know them.” As a result, COVID epitopes are not extraterrestrial. As for his shirt, he has nothing distinct from other primary cousins. But when it comes to his hooks, they are very different. The S proteins of this coronavirus have clearly superior qualities, and its genetic code / RNA gives it completely new properties compared to other closer or more distant nations. The fact is that we develop IgM, then IgG, both to the shirt (protein N) and especially to the hooks (protein S). It’s the latter, against the S protein, that matters. Because they have a “neutralizing” capacity. I mean, I’m targeting the virus to kill the lymphocytes.
The neutralizing capacity depends on how intensely the problem has been studied by the immune cells.
The virus mutates. New types of S protein are emerging. Instead, the binding region is “hidden” by the virus through folds and new spatial conformations. The individual has his passport in his pocket. As a result, vaccines, as well as the previous passage through the disease, may not be equally effective in the face of a new strain. A previous passage through the disease – hypothetically – has the advantage of bringing the “lesson at the door”, ie a secretory immunity at the border. The vaccine doesn’t give that. But the vaccine is superior in terms of the selection of competent lymphocytes BEFORE the infection, so that it can win quickly, without problems in the war with the replication of the virus “, states the doctor.
The warning of the doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă
The cold season is favorable for the spread of SARS-CoV-2, we are already witnessing a growing trend of COVID cases in other countries and the emergence of a new coronavirus strain, which is even more contagious and generates a the fifth wave of the pandemic, says the coordinator of the national anti-COVID vaccination campaign, doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă.
“There is a growing trend in the UK and I don’t want to forget that we are in the cold season. Winter is approaching and people will stay more and more indoors, they will interact more and more, the ventilation of the rooms will be less, and the risk of infection will obviously increase, so we are not in any form in -a period that from the point of view of epidemiological conditions is in our favor, but on the contrary “, said Valeriu Gheorghiţă. Reaching the vaccination threshold of 70% by the end of the year or in the first part of 2022 will be extremely difficult if the use of the green certificate is not required, warns the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign.
“I don’t think we can afford to repeat these waves of diseases indefinitely, because it is not excluded that in the coming months a new viral variant will be generated, which will be associated – and we see that they were usually associated – with an increase in transmissibility, which is more contagious and which may be associated with a decrease in the protection of immunity obtained after vaccination. So, we have to prevent these things “, Valeriu Gheorghiţă underlined.
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