StemCell Therapy

Sam Antonios| Special to The Capital-Journal

While viruses aren't new to humans, COVID-19 is novel to the human species, so no one has immunity against it. Like many other viruses, this novel coronavirus survives, replicates and transmits itself in and among its primary hosts: human beings.

Our human immune system fights off viral infections by developing special cells that secrete anti-virus molecules. But first, our bodies must learn how to build that immunity.

This coronavirus is a virus with which our bodies have had no previous experience. Some people's bodies can quickly create an immune response before the virus has the opportunity to overwhelm them, usually through domination of their respiratory system. Others aren't as fortunate and their immune system's response is too little, too late, causing them to fall victim to the disease.

For years, weve used vaccination to help our bodies ward off viral infections such as hepatitis, rubella, measles, chickenpox, influenza and rotavirus. The concept is simple: Introduce a non-active chunk or image of the virus so that our body becomes familiar with it and begins its immunity generation.

Because no actual virus has been introduced, that allows us to begin immunity stockpiling without the threat of disease. This model has helped humans for years and continues to do so with COVID-19.

After being vaccinated, when the body is exposed to the COVID-19 virus, it is more ready to fight it off, not even giving it a chance to overwhelm the body. COVID-19 can cause terrible medical problems and death to people. The vaccines available in the United States have been well-tested.

More than 388 million doses of the vaccines have been given in the U.S. and more than 6 billion doses worldwide. The goal is to develop enough collective immunity to stop this strain of coronavirus from spreading and mutating further the way viruses are designed to do.

Real-life evidence shows that the vaccines are working. Although people who have been vaccinated can still get a "breakthrough" infection and potentially transmit the virus, that infection tends to be milder because of their body's preparation work, thanks to the vaccines.

These infections occur far less frequently than those happening among unvaccinated people. We know this to be true because we are seeing this at our own hospitals and clinics.

This is why we continue to urge people to get vaccinated for COVID-19. While it might be tempting to try to ride this out, time is of the essence. The impact of this highly transmissible virus on the health and well being of our community is widely felt, as the surge commands significant resources, causing disruptions and delays for patients needing all types of care.

The story of our immune system fighting off invaders is long, this is simply another chapter. Using what we know works, we can beat this thing.

Sam Antonios, MD, is the chief clinical officer at Ascension Via Christi.

The rest is here:
'The story of our immune system fighting off invaders is long': COVID vaccination gives immune system a chance - The Topeka Capital-Journal

This entry was posted on October 5, 2021 at 6:32 pm and is filed under Immune System. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |