‘Better than nothing’: Doctors urge high-risk patients to get vaccinated

Life on the islands may seem to return to a semblance of normalcy as COVID-19 vaccines add a layer of protection, but patients with weakened immune systems may face the threat of infection whether or not they have received an injection.

This is because the vaccines currently on the market may not work as well for people who are immunocompromised, whether it is due to a genetic disorder, disease, recent organ transplant, or cancer. drug, some studies show it.

Almost 7 of the 10 patients Dr Tarquin Collis sees fall into this category. As the chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center, he said he advised them to get the COVID-19 vaccine anyway, even though their the ability to produce antibodies against the coronavirus may be hampered.

“Getting the vaccine is always incredibly helpful,” he said. “If it only offers partial protection, it will certainly be better than nothing.

Dr Jennifer Mbuthia, allergist and clinical immunologist specializing in vaccines and vaccine immunology at Queen’s Health Systems, agrees. She stressed that those with weakened immune systems should always avoid large crowds and continue to take pandemic precautions, even as official restrictions on masks and social distancing are relaxed.

“The evidence shows that there is a toned down response, but the response is not zero,” she said. “The antibody response is only part of the story of how the immune system creates this new memory and protects this body.”

Vaccines work by stimulating the body’s immune system to make antibodies against a specific virus. But this work is complicated in patients with immune deficiencies resulting from diseases like arthritis and cancer or those taking immunosuppressive drugs.

This raises concerns that their vaccinations have not worked.

the Centers for Disaster Control and Prevention says people with HIV, autoimmune diseases, or a weakened immune system due to other illnesses or drugs “may receive a COVID-19 vaccine”, but “should be aware of the limited safety data” and the “potential for reducing immune responses” to injections.

There are many factors to consider, such as the number of different medications a patient is using or the pace of their therapy. There may be a delay between taking immunosuppressants when patients have the best chance of getting a vaccine. People should discuss these issues with their doctors, Mbuthia said.

“A lot of it comes down to this individual clinical situation,” she said.

Checking the antibody level after someone has been injected with COVID-19 is popular, says Collis, but at this point it’s not very helpful for determine if a person is protected against infection or disease.

The current commercial antibody tests on the market can tell patients if there are antibodies, but cannot provide more details on their number or effectiveness, he said.

The accuracy of these antibody tests also varies.

“It’s like trying to predict the weather with a thermometer stuck to your lawn without barometric pressure, radar and subtle forecasts of wind speed and tides,” Collis said.

“We couldn’t really act on the results and we don’t know how to interpret them. Immunosuppression is this incredibly complex four dimensional thing.

Patients also came to Collis with concerns that their underlying condition would get worse, which he said he had not seen at Oahu Kaiser Permanente Hospital.

“That’s another message I’m trying to get across – don’t avoid vaccines because you’re worried about your underlying disease,” he said.

It’s still not clear how long antibodies that fight SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can stay in someone’s system. Researchers are also still trying to determine whether fully vaccinated people are less contagious.

A study in Great Britain which followed 7,000 people with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis in 90 hospitals found that less than half of patients who took a drug called Remicade developed an immune response following coronavirus infection.

An article from the journal JAMA found that only 17% of the more than 400 transplant recipients who received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine had traceable antibodies three weeks after their shots.

Mbuthia and Collis expect that booster injections may play a role in the future to ensure continued protection, especially for people with compromised immunity.

The next best thing to do is make sure everyone else in the household is vaccinated, they said.

“You can protect your loved ones by also getting vaccinated,” Mbuthia said.