Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, Author at 麻豆女优 Health News Fri, 23 Sep 2022 18:37:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 /wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=32 Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, Author at 麻豆女优 Health News 32 32 161476233 Change to Gilead Assistance Program Threatens PrEP Access, HIV Advocates Say /news/article/change-to-gilead-assistance-program-threatens-prep-access-hiv-advocates-say/ Thu, 10 Jun 2021 09:00:00 +0000 https://khn.org/?post_type=article&p=1318517 Dr. John Carlo is concerned that patients at Prism Health North Texas who rely on the health care safety net will soon be struggling even more to stay on PrEP, a medication that prevents HIV transmission.

Carlo, chief executive officer of the clinic, which runs three locations in Dallas, offers free PrEP to roughly 250 patients, he said, thanks to an assistance program run by Gilead Sciences. The drugmaker currently manufactures two PrEP medications.

The program also helps Carlo generate money to cover the care people on the medication need, like regular doctor visits and lab tests.

Without Gilead’s help, Carlo said, “none of these people would be in care with us.”

Nationwide, safety-net clinics like Prism Health North Texas rely on Gilead’s Advancing Access Patient Assistance/Medication Assistance Program to fund services that keep patients in need HIV-negative.

In April, Gilead announced it will change how much it reimburses through that assistance program. For pharmacies that contract with certain safety-net clinics, like Prism Health, the change means less reimbursement cash to pass along to the clinics.

The domino-like impact of the company’s move means Prism Health may lose between $2 million and $3 million annually, Carlo estimated.

The Advancing Access program offers free medicine to the uninsured. In the simplest terms, pharmacies dispense Gilead’s drugs at no charge to qualifying patients. The pharmacies then file claims with Gilead, which reimburses them.

Shannon Stephenson, who runs a network of safety-net clinics called Cempa Community Care in Chattanooga, Tennessee, said the new policy means she will have to work with a tighter budget and find another way to afford the nearly $2,000 in yearly medical services alone each patient on PrEP needs.

“It could really cause a shift in what HIV looks like in the future,” Stephenson said. “This is not the time to be creating any more barriers to getting people into care.”

Coy Stout, Gilead’s vice president of U.S. commercial access and reimbursement, said that before it changed its policy the company did not know safety-net clinics relied on this money to fund critical services.

Gilead announced the change after discovering it was reimbursing pharmacies at a higher price than what most of them were spending to replace the drugs.

The company declined to tell how much money it will save, but Stout said the move will help keep the aid program sustainable.

In 2020, according to a Gilead , the company earned $24.4 billion in product sales.

“This is a program to provide free medication,” Stout said, “not free medication and other services.”

Currently, the drug company reimburses pharmacies the retail price of the drugs. For HIV prevention medications, the cost is substantial. Gilead’s PrEP medicines, Truvada and Descovy, cost more than $1,800 for a 30-day supply, said Sean Dickson, director of health policy at the West Health Policy Center.

In 2022, Gilead will give pharmacies “” for each bottle of medicine. Certain safety-net clinics will be harmed by the change because they participate in a separate program called 340B.

The federal program requires pharmaceutical companies to sell their medications to safety-net providers at a discount. Although the size of the discounts the drugmakers offer is confidential, the government range from 25% to 50%.

In short, that means clinics that participate in the 340B program will be reimbursed for the discounted price of the drug, which will cut how much they can pocket from the Advancing Access program.

Dickson said the amount clinics keep from Gilead’s aid program is a critical source of revenue to pay for services and medicines for patients in need who can’t get them otherwise.

“These really are needy populations that are being served by them,” Dickson said.

Clinics that participate in the 340B program play a crucial role in treating patients at risk of contracting HIV, said Tim Horn, director of health care access for NASTAD, the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.

He’s particularly concerned about providers in the South, where rates of HIV and the uninsured are among the nation’s highest. The region accounted for over half of all HIV diagnoses in 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

Small, grassroots clinics in the South are “gonna live or die by the 340B savings,” said Horn.

The financial upheaval of Gilead’s change in reimbursement adds fodder to larger questions about the 340B program as a viable source of funding for PrEP services.

Several drugmakers have recently released generic PrEP medicines priced significantly lower than Gilead’s brand-name offerings. Dickson said lower drug prices are a positive development for patients because it makes health care more affordable for everyone.

However, he added, transitioning to generic PrEP would prevent 340B clinics from generating money off the drug company’s aid.

That said, relying on high drug pricing to fund the nation’s safety net “is not a sustainable path forward,” said Dickson. “We actually need to pay for things that work rather than paying too much for prescription drugs.”

KHN senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble contributed to this report.

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]]> 1318517 Caring for an Aging Nation /news/article/caring-for-an-aging-nation/ Fri, 28 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000 https://khn.org/?post_type=article&p=1275036 USE OUR CONTENT

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Table of Contents

A Variety of Services Booming Number of Seniors The Cost of Long-Term Care Services The Physical – and Financial – Burden The $61 Billion Price Tag

Health care for the nation’s seniors looms large as the baby-boom generation ages into retirement. President Joe Biden tacitly acknowledged those needs in March with his proposal to spend $400 billion over the next eight years to improve access to in-home and community-based care.

The swelling population of seniors will far outpace growth in other age groups. That acceleration 鈥 and the slower growth in other age groups 鈥 could leave many older Americans with less family to rely on for help in their later years. Meanwhile, federal officials estimate that more than half of people turning 65 will need long-term care services at some point. That care is expensive and can be hard to find.

Spending for paid long-term care already runs about $409 billion a year. Yet that staggering number doesn’t begin to reflect the real cost. Experts estimate that 1 in 6 Americans provide billions of dollars’ worth of unpaid care to a relative or friend age 50 or older in their home.

As the country weighs Biden’s plan, here’s a quick look at how long-term care works currently and what might lie ahead.

A Variety of Services

More than 65,000 paid, regulated service providers cared for 8 million Americans in 2016, according to the most recent federal report. In addition, estimates more than 50 million people provide unpaid care, generally to family members.

Home Health Care

Care that occurs in the home, usually done by an unpaid caregiver or by a health aide, who may be employed by an agency (does not include hospice services).

12,200 home health care agencies

Community Support Services

Supplemental care including services such as adult day care centers and transportation.

4,600 adult day care centers

286,300 adults enrolled in adult day care service centers

Assisted Living/Retirement Communities

Residential facilities that can offer a variety of care levels, including assisted living centers and memory care.

28,900 assisted living and other residential care communities

811,500 residents

Nursing Homes

Full-time residential facilities that offer 24-hour supervision and nursing care.

15,600 nursing homes

1.35 million residents

Note: Data from 2016

Source:

Note: Data from 2016 厂辞耻谤肠别:听

Booming Number of Seniors

As baby boomers age, 10,000 people a day pass their 65th birthday. The Census Bureau estimates that more than 94.6 million people will be 65 or older in 2060.

From January to June 2018, the percentage of older adults age 85 and over needing help with personal care was more than twice the percentage for adults ages 75-84 and five times the percentage for adults ages 65-74.聽

4% of 65-74

Source:

8% of 75-84

21% of 85+

The Cost of Long-Term Care Services

From 2004 to 2020, the cost for facility and in-home care services has risen, on average, between 1.88% and 3.8% each year.

The median income for a household in which the head of the household is 65 or older was $47,357 in 2019.

厂辞耻谤肠别蝉:听;听

The Physical – And Financial – Burden

The $61 Billion Price Tag

Medicaid pays for the majority of long-term care services, but Americans also pay $61 billion out-of-pocket.

Note: Data from 2018Source:

Medicaid

The federal-state health care insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans is the single-largest payer of long-term and community-based care and some in-home services. To qualify, many families must “spend down,” or reduce the older adult’s income and assets. And waiting lists for in-home care services in many states are long.

Medicare

The federal health insurance program for seniors and certain people with disabilities usually pays for acute care and post-acute, skilled nursing care and home health care services.

Other Public Programs

Other public spending comes from different sources, including states, localities, the Veterans Health Administration and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Over half of this spending covered long-term care services given at residential care facilities for people with various mental health conditions and developmental disabilities.

Out-of-Pocket

These costs, paid for by individuals, include deductibles and copays for services as well as the direct payments made toward covering long-term care.

Private Insurance

Private health care plans usually cover payments for some limited home health and skilled nursing related to rehabilitation. Long-term care insurance may also help with these costs.

Other Private Funding

These funds generally come from nonprofit philanthropic groups, private individuals or corporations.

KHN’s coverage related to aging and improving care of older adults is supported in part by聽.

This story was produced by , which publishes , an editorially independent service of the .

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]]> 1275036 What Does Approval of the Pfizer Vaccine for Teens and Preteens Mean for My Child? /news/article/what-does-approval-of-the-pfizer-vaccine-for-teens-and-preteens-mean-for-my-child/ Fri, 14 May 2021 19:02:00 +0000 https://khn.org/?post_type=article&p=1310215 Q: The federal government approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds. What does this mean for my child?

Extending the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to preteens and young adolescents adds nearly 17 million more Americans to the pool of those eligible to be immunized against covid-19, helping to build a vaccinated population closer to herd immunity. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are also testing the efficacy of their vaccines in teens and children.

Although children appear to catch covid less often and develop milder symptoms than adults, they can develop a rare, severe inflammatory response or “” symptoms. It also remains to be seen what, if any, long-term effects these younger patients may experience from covid.

The share of covid cases in children and teens is increasing 鈥 nearly a quarter of the new weekly covid cases were found in this age group, May 6 by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

And, though kids have been less likely to develop severe illness, they still can pose a risk to vulnerable people around them because they may not even know they are carrying the virus, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

, a pediatrician and the division director of adolescent medicine at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, said she has had to explain to her young patients that getting immunized would help their community curb the spread, cut the risk of variants and help society reopen.

“I talk about them doing their part,” Stager said. “That this is all part of them contributing to the greater good.”

The Fine Print

The CDC this week use of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 after the Food and Drug Administration its emergency use authorization to include these preteens and young adolescents. That means this age group now can receive the same shots in the same time frame 鈥 21 days apart 鈥 as adults do.

In a reversal of its previous guidance, teens and adults do not need to wait 14 days before or after getting the covid shot to receive a vaccine for another condition. This could be a boon for health care providers who have child patients lagging on other, routine vaccines, which has been a persistent problem during the pandemic.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to play catch-up,” said Stager.

CDC officials noted in the May 12 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendation that they do not have data specifically looking at potential side effects in patients immunized against covid and other illnesses at the same time. However, the agency made the decision given the strong safety data of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot and previous experience with other immunizations.

This question will become more important as covid vaccines are studied . Trials are planned to test the vaccine in children as young as 6 months old.

As in adults, the question of how long the immunity lasts in children remains unknown, said , an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota. However, she said, it’s likely that any waning immunity detected in adults will also be seen among the young.

“Whatever we learn in adults,” Wurtz said, “kids will be not far behind.”

Whether this approval will prompt schools to require vaccination against covid for K-12 students returning to the classroom this fall is a pending question, said Stager. whether federal law allows state authorities to mandate a vaccine that has not yet been fully approved. That said, the government’s approval will also likely play into parents’ decisions about sending their children to summer camp.

What Did the Trial Find?

Pfizer tested the vaccine in 2,260 preteens and young adolescents living in the United States. Researchers followed participants for two months or more, the FDA said. Pfizer’s clinical protocol says the company will continue to follow participants for two years after the second dose.

Results show the vaccine is safe to use in this age group, causing side effects similar to those seen in young adult populations for whom it had already been cleared, according to the FDA in a . Those vaccinated also produced a strong immune response 鈥 the level of antibodies recorded in this age group was than what was seen in 16- to 25-year-olds.

The vaccinated group also had no covid cases when tested seven days after their second dose. Sixteen participants out of 978 who did not get the shot but were followed as part of the study as a control group tested positive for the virus. In short, the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing covid, according to the FDA.

Why So Few Kids?

One data point that may give parents pause is the trial’s number of participants. The relatively low number 鈥 especially when compared with the tens of thousands enrolled in adult trials 鈥 is a reflection of what the researchers were trying to accomplish, said , an assistant professor of international health at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

Gauging whether the shot was safe for children and if it generated a strong immune response did not require a large study group, she said. Statisticians can calculate how many people a trial needs to generate meaningful results without unnecessarily exposing people to dangerous pathogens like the coronavirus.

In addition, the findings pertaining to the younger age group built on what has already been learned in earlier studies.

“It’s just not practical to do 30,000-person trials over and over with the same vaccine,” Talaat said. Large trials are expensive, she added. Including minors also poses extra challenges, said Stager, such as getting parental consent.

Jerica Pitts, a Pfizer spokesperson, said in an email the company is using a “careful, stepwise approach” to including minors in clinical trials.

Stager said physiological similarities among 12- to 15-year-olds in response to vaccines have previously been documented. Studies related to a vaccine for the human papillomavirus have shown kids at this age generated similar, strong immune responses, too.

Administering the vaccine to preteens and young adolescents in large numbers may reveal additional effects that weren’t detected in the clinical trials, said A. Oveta Fuller, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

That said, when weighing the threat of the virus versus the vaccine’s proven safety, she said, the choice is clear.

“The thing is the danger is really not so much the vaccines as it is what it protects against,” Fuller said, “and that’s covid disease.”

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]]> 1310215 Vacuna de Pfizer para adolescentes: lo que tienes que saber /news/article/vacuna-de-pfizer-para-adolescentes-lo-que-tienes-que-saber/ Fri, 14 May 2021 15:32:00 +0000 https://khn.org/?post_type=article&p=1314226 El gobierno federal aprobó para uso de emergencia la vacuna de Pfizer para adolescentes de 12 a 15 años. 驴Qué significa esto para tu hijo?

La ampliación del uso de emergencia de la vacuna de Pfizer-BioNTech para preadolescentes y adolescentes jóvenes añade casi 17 millones de estadounidenses más al grupo de personas elegibles para ser inmunizadas contra covid-19, lo que ayuda a crear una población vacunada más cercana a la inmunidad colectiva.

Moderna y Johnson & Johnson también investigan la eficacia de sus vacunas en adolescentes y niños.

Aunque los niños parecen contraer el coronavirus y desarrollar covid con menos frecuencia, suelen tener síntomas más leves que los adultos. También está por ver qué efectos a largo plazo, si es que los hay, pueden experimentar estos pacientes más jóvenes.

Y, aunque los niños han sido menos propensos a desarrollar una enfermedad grave, todavía pueden suponer un riesgo para las personas vulnerables que los rodean, ya que pueden no saber que son portadores del virus, los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC).

, pediatra y directora de la división de medicina para adolescentes del Centro Médico MetroHealth de Cleveland, dijo que ha tenido que explicar a sus jóvenes pacientes que vacunarse ayudaría a su comunidad a frenar la propagación del virus, reducir el riesgo de variantes y ayudar a la sociedad a reabrirse.

“Les pido que hagan su parte”, explicó Stager. “Que todo esto forma parte de su contribución al bien común”.

Los CDC el uso de la vacuna de Pfizer para los niños de 12 a 15 años después de que la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos (FDA) su autorización de uso de emergencia para incluir a estos preadolescentes y adolescentes. Esto significa que este grupo de edad puede recibir ahora las mismas vacunas en el mismo plazo de tiempo 鈥攃on 21 días de diferencia鈥 que los adultos.

Al igual que en los adultos, se desconoce la duración de la inmunidad en los niños, señaló la , profesora de enfermedades infecciosas de la Universidad de Minnesota. Sin embargo, dijo, es probable que cualquier disminución de la inmunidad detectada en los adultos también se observe entre los jóvenes.

“Sea lo que sea que aprendamos de los adultos”, añadió Wurtz, “con los niños no será muy diferente”.

No se sabe si esta aprobación provocará que las escuelas exijan la vacunación contra covid a los alumnos de K-12 que vuelvan a las aulas este otoño, advirtió Stager.聽 si la ley federal permite a las autoridades estatales imponer una vacuna que aún no ha sido totalmente aprobada.

Dicho esto, es probable que la aprobación del gobierno también influya en las decisiones de los padres sobre el envío de sus hijos a los campamentos de verano.

驴Qué descubrió el ensayo?

Pfizer probó la vacuna en 2,260 preadolescentes y adolescentes jóvenes en los Estados Unidos. Los investigadores siguieron a los participantes durante dos meses o más, según la FDA. El protocolo clínico de Pfizer dice que la empresa continuará el seguimiento de los participantes durante dos años después de la segunda dosis.

Los resultados demuestran que la vacuna es segura en este grupo de edad, ya que provoca efectos secundarios similares a los observados en poblaciones de adultos jóvenes para los que ya había sido autorizada, según informó la FDA en un .

Los vacunados también produjeron una fuerte respuesta inmunitaria: el nivel de anticuerpos registrado en este grupo de edad fue incluso que el observado en los jóvenes de 16 a 25 años.

El grupo vacunado tampoco tuvo ningún caso de covid cuando se analizó siete días después de su segunda dosis. Dieciséis de los 978 participantes que no recibieron la vacuna, pero que fueron seguidos en el estudio como grupo de control, dieron positivo al virus. En resumen, la vacuna fue 100% efectiva en la prevención de covid, indicó la FDA.

驴Por qué tan pocos niños?

Un dato que puede hacer dudar a los padres es el número de participantes en el ensayo. El número relativamente bajo 鈥攅specialmente si se compara con las decenas de miles de participantes en los ensayos con adultos鈥 es un reflejo de lo que los investigadores trataban de conseguir, dijo la , profesora de salud internacional en la Escuela de Salud Pública de la Universidad Johns Hopkins.

Para determinar si la vacuna era segura para los niños y si generaba una respuesta inmunitaria fuerte no era necesario un grupo de estudio grande, señaló. Los expertos en estadísticas pueden calcular cuántas personas necesita un ensayo para generar resultados significativos sin exponer innecesariamente a las personas a patógenos peligrosos como el coronavirus.

Además, los resultados relativos al grupo de edad más joven se basan en lo que ya se ha aprendido en estudios anteriores.

“No es práctico hacer ensayos con 30,000 personas una y otra vez con la misma vacuna”, afirmó Talaat. Los grandes ensayos son caros, añadió. Incluir a los menores también plantea retos adicionales, dijo Stager, como conseguir el consentimiento de los padres.

Jerica Pitts, vocera de Pfizer, declaró en un correo electrónico que la empresa utiliza un “enfoque cuidadoso y gradual” para incluir a menores en los ensayos clínicos.

Stager indicó que ya se han documentado similitudes fisiológicas entre los jóvenes de 12 a 15 años en respuesta a las vacunas. Los estudios relacionados con una vacuna contra el virus del papiloma humano han demostrado que los niños de esta edad también generaron respuestas inmunitarias fuertes.

La administración de la vacuna a preadolescentes y adolescentes jóvenes en grandes cantidades puede revelar efectos adicionales que no se detectaron en los ensayos clínicos, apuntó A. Oveta Fuller, profesora de microbiología e inmunología en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Michigan.

Dicho esto, Fuller señaló que al sopesar la amenaza del virus frente a la seguridad demostrada de la vacuna, la elección está clara.

“La cuestión es que el peligro no es tanto la vacuna como aquello contra lo que protege”, añadió Fuller, “y eso es la enfermedad de covid”.

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]]> 1314226 Si me recuper茅 de covid, 驴por qu茅 tengo que seguir usando m谩scara? /news/si-me-recupere-de-covid-por-que-tengo-que-seguir-usando-mascara/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 14:45:45 +0000 https://khn.org/?p=1299497 Más de de estadounidenses se han unido al club más selecto de la Tierra: los inmunizados contra el coronavirus.

En marzo, los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC) dieron luz verde a las personas completamente vacunadas para reunirse con otras personas completamente vacunadas, o con personas no vacunadas de bajo riesgo de otro hogar sin máscara y, a principios de este mes, viajar sin ponerse en cuarentena después.

Aunque a medida que hay más informes sobre el aumento de casos estatales y locales, los CDC instan cada vez más a la precaución.

Pero, 驴qué pasa con todas las personas, un número , aunque se estima en millones, que ahora poseen algún grado de inmunidad porque se recuperaron de covid-19?

La agencia recomienda que todos, vacunados, recuperados o no, usen una máscara .

No se menciona si las personas que se han recuperado pueden reunirse sin cubrirse la cara como las que están completamente vacunadas.

Y, a pesar de todo, la necesidad de usar máscaras sigue siendo un tema polémico. A medida que el gobierno federal redobla su importancia, algunos estados han echado por la borda la precaución y los cubrebocas.

隆Vencí a covid! 驴No puedo dejar esto por atrás?

Las personas que se recuperan del virus disfrutan de cierta inmunidad. Los CDC dicen que la protección dura después de dar positivo para el virus. Durante ese tiempo, no es necesario ponerse en cuarentena o volver a realizar la prueba si nuevamente están expuestos.

Los casos de reinfección . Si bien los infectados pueden continuar diseminando el virus durante meses, después de recuperarse, la cantidad es lo como para que sea poco probable que infecte a otros, indicaron los CDC.

Dado eso, algunos han cuestionado si las personas que se han recuperado aún deben cumplir con los mandatos de usar mascarillas. Linsey Marr, profesora de ingeniería de la Virginia Tech University, que estudia la transmisión aérea, apuntó que no existe una justificación científica sólida para cubrirse el rostro entre las personas que han tenido el virus.

Sin embargo, aún no hay respuestas a las preguntas importantes sobre el nivel de inmunidad posterior a la infección que hacen aconsejable seguir usando una máscara, dijeron expertos. Por ejemplo, los científicos aún tienen que determinar si las personas que experimentaron síntomas leves, o ningún síntoma, generaron una respuesta inmune suficiente para protegerlos significativamente de contraer el virus de nuevo.

Además, nadie sabe cuánto dura la inmunidad. Una persona podría reinfectarse y comenzar a propagar el virus sin saberlo, dijo A. Oveta Fuller, profesor asociado de microbiología e inmunología en la Escuela de Medicina de la Universidad de Michigan.

“No conviene exponer el virus al medio ambiente”, señaló.

驴Qué hace que las vacunas protejan más?

Las vacunas contra covid-19 disponibles en los Estados Unidos brindan un alto grado de protección contra enfermedades, hospitalizaciones y muertes.

Las vacunas de Moderna y Pfizer-BioNTech tienen una efectividad superior al 94% después de dos dosis. El porcentaje es más bajo para la vacuna de Johnson & Johnson: 72% en los EE. UU. Estas vacunas no se pueden comparar exactamente por una variedad de razones. (El martes 13 de abril, la FDA recomendó una pausa en el uso de la vacuna J&J mientras se investigan los informes de un efecto secundario poco común).

Hasta ahora, que las dosis de Moderna y Pfizer-BioNTech protegen a las personas durante al menos seis meses, pero la investigación está en curso. Estos datos aún no están disponibles para la vacuna de J&J.

La evidencia científica también parece mostrar que la inmunidad inducida por la vacuna es más fuerte que la que genera el cuerpo después de una infección, dijo Fuller. Y las vacunas parecen ofrecer cierta protección contra la variante descubierta en el Reino Unido, que ahora circula ampliamente en los Estados Unidos. Se desconoce si la inmunidad natural puede combatir esta cepa u otras variantes, dijo Jade Fulce, vocera de los CDC.

驴Qué podría explicar estas diferencias? Visualiza el virus como una mano, dijo Fuller. Una infección natural hace que el cuerpo ataque cualquier parte del patógeno, incluyendo las partes prescindibles como la punta de una uña. Pero las vacunas están diseñadas para crear combatientes que reaccionen al “pulgar” del virus, la proteína en punta que lo une a la célula humana.

“Sabemos que el pulgar es fundamental para la infección”, dijo Fuller, “por lo que cualquier inmunidad que haga será más protectora contra la infección que la inmunidad frente a una infección natural”.

La que las vacunas también podrían prevenir o limitar la cantidad de replicación del virus en el sistema respiratorio, un efecto que podría reducir aún más la transmisión.

Dicho esto, la inmunidad inducida por vacunas viene con su parte de incógnitas. Las vacunas tienen una alta tasa de eficacia, pero aún no protegen al 100% contra el virus. Los científicos aún están estudiando si la inmunidad de las vacunas o una infección se desvanecerá con el tiempo.

Dependiendo de cómo se disipe esta protección, las personas con inmunidad inducida por la vacuna podrían volverse vulnerables al virus nuevamente e infectarse sin saberlo, dijo Fuller. Las personas infectadas pueden comenzar a propagar el virus hasta dos días antes de mostrar síntomas, y se nunca muestra señales de enfermedad.

“Hemos aprendido mucho” en el año desde que surgió covid-19, dijo Fuller. “Pero hay muchísimo más que conocer”.

Una máscara te protege a ti, a tu vecino y al mundo.

Cuando una persona infectada con SARS-COV-2 exhala, libera gotitas en el aire que contienen humedad, saliva y posiblemente partículas de virus.

Las máscaras funcionan bloqueando esas gotas para que no caigan dentro o sobre otra persona. Las telas de tejido compacto pueden atrapar gotas más pequeñas que de tejidos más suelto, dijo Richard Sachleben, químico jubilado. Algunas versiones también ayudan al usuario a

Las gotas de diferentes tamaños conllevan diferentes riesgos, dijo Sachleben. Las más grandes son arrastradas al suelo por la gravedad, explicó, pero son más peligrosas porque transportan más virus que las más pequeñas que permanecen en el aire. Afortunadamente, también son más fáciles de bloquear con una máscara.

“Es por eso por lo que una máscara simple es mejor que ninguna”, dijo Sachleben.

Los cubrebocas también ayudan a evitar que se formen más variantes, continuó, porque cuantas menos partículas hay en el aire, menos oportunidades tiene el virus de mutar a una forma que sea más resistente contra las defensas de la humanidad.

Sin embargo, ni siquiera las mejores máscaras son 100% efectivas para atrapar y bloquear todos los virus, aseguró el doctor Donald Milton, profesor de salud ambiental en la Escuela de Salud Pública de la Universidad de Maryland. Pero, cuando se combinan con otras medidas de salud pública, pueden reducir significativamente la propagación viral.

El uso de una máscara también envía un mensaje sobre lo que la gente debe hacer “para acabar con esta pandemia”, dijo Fuller. Debido a que las cubiertas faciales protegen al público de los gérmenes, también comunica que el que la usa se preocupa por la comunidad, dijo Sachleben.

“Cuando usas una máscara, significa que te preocupas”, dijo Sachleben. “Cuando uso una máscara, eso significa que yo me preocupo por ti”.

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]]> 1299497 Ask KHN-PolitiFact: I鈥檝e Recovered From Covid. Why Do I Still Have to Mask Up? /news/article/ask-khn-politifact-ive-recovered-from-covid-why-do-i-still-have-to-mask-up/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000 https://khn.org/?post_type=article&p=1293007 More than Americans have joined arguably the most sought-after club on Earth: those immunized against the coronavirus. Fully vaccinated people were given the green light in March by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to gather with other fully vaccinated people or with low-risk unvaccinated people from one other household without a mask and, earlier this month, to travel without quarantining afterward. (As reports of state and local case surges mount, the CDC is increasingly urging caution.)

But what about all the people 鈥 a number , though estimated to be in the millions 鈥 who now possess some degree of immunity because they recovered from covid-19?

The agency recommends that everyone 鈥 vaccinated, recovered or otherwise 鈥 wear a mask

There is no mention of whether people who have recovered can congregate without face coverings like those who are fully vaccinated.

And, through it all, the need for masks continues to be a contentious issue. As the federal government doubles down on their importance, some states have thrown caution 鈥 and face coverings 鈥 to the wind. We decided to dig into the science and motives behind the masking recommendation.

I Beat Covid! Isn’t This Behind Me?

People who recover from the virus enjoy some immunity. The CDC says the protection lasts at after testing positive for the virus. During that time, they do not need to quarantine or retest if they’re exposed again.

Cases of reinfection . While those infected can continue shedding the virus for months after they recover, the CDC said, the amount is that it is unlikely to infect others.

Given that, some have questioned whether people who have recovered still need to abide by mask mandates. Linsey Marr, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech University who studies airborne transmission, told us there’s no strong scientific rationale for face coverings among people who have had the virus.

However, important questions remain unanswered about the level of post-infection immunity that make it advisable to continue wearing a mask, experts said. For instance, scientists have yet to determine whether people who experienced mild or no symptoms generated enough of an immune response to meaningfully shield them from getting the virus again.

Additionally, no one knows how long immunity lasts. A person could get reinfected and start spreading the virus without knowing it, said A. Oveta Fuller, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at University of Michigan Medical School.

“You don’t want to be putting virus into the environment,” she said.

What Makes Vaccines More Protective?

The covid vaccines available in the United States provide a high degree of protection from illness, hospitalization and death.

The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are over 94% effective after two doses. The percentage is lower for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine 鈥 72% in the U.S. These vaccines can’t be compared exactly for a variety of reasons. (Tuesday, the FDA recommended a pause in use of the J&J vaccine as reports of a rare side effect are investigated.)

So far, the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech injections shield people for at least six months, but research is ongoing. This data is not yet available for the J&J shot.

Scientific evidence also appears to show vaccine-induced immunity is stronger than what the body generates after an infection, Fuller said. And vaccines appear to offer some protection against the variant discovered in the United Kingdom, now widely circulating in the U.S. Whether natural immunity can combat this strain or other variants is unknown, CDC spokesperson Jade Fulce said.

What could account for these differences? Visualize the virus as a hand, Fuller said. A natural infection triggers the body to attack any part of the pathogen, including dispensable bits like the tip of a fingernail. But the vaccines are engineered to create fighters that react to the virus’s “thumb,” the spike protein that binds it to the human cell.

“We know the thumb is critical for infection,” Fuller said, “so any immunity you make against that will be more protective against infection than immunity from natural infection.”

suggests the vaccines could also prevent or limit how much the virus replicates in the respiratory system, an effect that could further cut down transmission.

That said, vaccine-induced immunity comes with its share of unknowns. Vaccines have a high efficacy rate, but they are still not 100% protective against the virus. Scientists are still figuring out whether immunity from vaccines or an infection will fade over time.

Depending on how this protection dissipates, people with vaccine-induced immunity could become vulnerable to the virus again and get infected without knowing it, said Fuller. Infected people can start shedding the virus up to two days before they show symptoms, and an never show signs of illness.

“We’ve learned a lot” in the year since covid emerged, Fuller said. “But there’s so, so much more to know.”

A Mask Protects You, Your Neighbor and the World

When a person infected with SARS-COV-2 breathes out, they release droplets into the air that contain moisture, saliva and possibly bits of virus.

Masks work by blocking those droplets from landing in or on another person. Tightly woven fabrics can trap smaller droplets than those made with looser weaves, said Richard Sachleben, a retired chemist. Some versions also help the wearer .

Droplets of different sizes come with different risks, said Sachleben. Larger ones are pulled to the ground by gravity, he said, but they’re more dangerous because they carry more virus than smaller ones that linger in the air. Luckily, they’re also easier to block with a face covering.

“That’s why a crappy mask is better than no mask,” Sachleben said.

Face coverings also help stop more variants from forming, he continued, because the fewer particles are in the air, the fewer opportunities the virus has to mutate into a form that’s more resilient against humanity’s defenses.

That said, not even the best masks are 100% effective at catching and blocking every piece of virus, said Dr. Donald Milton, professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. But, when combined with other public health measures, they can meaningfully reduce viral spread.

“If you combine a mask that does a little bit on me with a mask that does a little bit on you with being outside or having good ventilation inside,” he said, “these things then add up.”

Wearing a mask also sends a message about what people need to do “to break the back of this pandemic,” said Fuller. Because face coverings protect the public from the wearer’s germs, it also communicates that the wearer cares about the community, said Sachleben.

“When you wear a mask, that means you care,” said Sachleben. “When I wear a mask, that means I care about you.”

麻豆女优 Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at 麻豆女优鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

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]]> 1293007 Ask KHN-PolitiFact: How Can Covid Vaccines Be Safe When They Were Developed So Fast? /news/article/ask-khn-politifact-how-can-covid-vaccines-be-safe-when-they-were-developed-so-fast/ Tue, 30 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000 https://khn.org/?post_type=article&p=1282307 The development of the first covid vaccines may have seemed to occur at a dizzying pace. After all, scientists identified a new virus and created vaccines to protect against its most severe effects within a .

But the research underpinning these vaccines isn’t that new at all, vaccine experts say. Some of it is decades old. This foundation, combined with technical expertise, urgency and financial resources, enabled scientists to pull off the medical marvel.

“The reason it was so fast is money and work,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Leveraging mRNA: A Technique as Old as Millennials

Covid mRNA vaccines use the human body’s natural immune response to its advantage. The shot contains the recipe for making the molecule known as the spike protein, which the covid virus uses to bind to cells. Once the cell receives these instructions, it creates the protein and displays it on its surface. The immune system then spots the unknown protein and makes antibodies to fight it.

The vaccines made by the companies Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna use this technology, which stems from research that began in the early ’90s, said Dr. Drew Weissman, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. It has been tested against other viruses Scientists learned from previous clinical trials and have since worked to perfect the use of mRNA, he said. Previous work on related coronaviruses like helped speed the process.

Weissman and his colleague , a senior vice president of , are credited with the that enabled these vaccines to be safe and highly effective.

“This isn’t new technology,” Weissman said.

Viral Vector Vaccines: A Health Emergency Veteran

The third vaccine being distributed in the United States to protect against severe covid-19 uses viral vector technology to generate an immune response. It contains a weakened form of a different virus that carries instructions for cells to make the spike protein found on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid. The protein appears on the cell’s surface, and the immune system creates antibodies against it.

Like the mRNA vaccines, this technology carries the code for making the spike protein to the cell, said Dr. Ruth Karron, director of the Center for Immunization Research at Johns Hopkins University.

“The truck is different,” she said, “but what’s being delivered is very similar.”

Viral vector technology has been studied . These vaccines have been approved for use to immunize people against Japanese encephalitis. Johnson & Johnson, which uses this platform for its covid shot, also created a viral vector vaccine for Ebola after a in 2019 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Are They Safe?

In addition to existing research, generous resources were allocated to quickly create the covid vaccines, experts said. As of Dec. 2020, the federal government spent $12.4 billion alone on to hasten vaccine development. Drug companies partnered with the National Institutes of Health to tap into its expertise and quickly enroll trial participants.

Perhaps most important, the final clinical trials for the covid vaccines enrolled between 30,000 and nearly 45,000 participants.

“These studies are so much bigger than the studies we do for many licensed vaccines,” Karron said. Some trials for previously approved vaccines have included as few as 3,000 participants, she added.

Dr. Scott Ratzan, who runs a covid-19 vaccine communications initiative called at the City University of New York, said pushing certain information has helped assuage fears among the vaccine hesitant. These include highlighting the reality of the virus, comparing the shot’s side effects to other vaccines and showing the vaccines’ effectiveness in millions of people.

Waiting for others to get the shot first was “a fair thing” when they first rolled out, Offit said. However, after nearly in the United States have received at least one vaccine dose with no sign of safety issues, he said, the skepticism should be fading away.

“You have your proof in terms of efficacy and safety,” Offit said. If you are still refusing, “then that’s because you’re not a skeptic anymore. You’re a cynic.”

麻豆女优 Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at 麻豆女优鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

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]]> 1282307 Tratamiento con aceites esenciales para ni帽os que perdieron el olfato por covid /news/tratamiento-con-aceites-esenciales-para-ninos-que-perdieron-el-olfato-por-covid/ Thu, 25 Mar 2021 18:21:11 +0000 https://khn.org/?p=1282991 Naranja. Eucalipto. Lavanda. Menta.

Médicos de los hospitales Colorado Children’s y Seattle Children’s utilizarán estos aromas para tratar a niños con covid que perdieron el sentido del olfato.

Los padres realizarán un entrenamiento, y llevarán a casa un kit de aceites esenciales para que sus hijos los huelan, dos veces al día, durante tres meses. Los especialistas monitorearán sus progresos cada mes.

La Smell Disturbance Clinic fue aprobada para abrir el 10 de marzo en el hospital de Colorado. Hasta ahora se han examinado cinco niños y uno se ha inscripto. Seattle espera abrir la clínica esta primavera.

Este tratamiento, conocido como “entrenamiento olfativo”, ha demostrado ser eficaz en adultos. Sin embargo, según los médicos, prácticamente no hay datos sobre si el método funciona en niños.

A medida que la pandemia de covid ha ido evolucionando en los últimos 12 meses, un número creciente de niños y adultos jóvenes han desarrollado la enfermedad. Y un grupo cada vez mayor sufre síntomas de larga duración.

Una de las quejas más comunes es la pérdida de olfato.

La relación entre el coronavirus y las alteraciones del olfato en los adultos está bien documentada. Sin embargo, los científicos siguen sin saber cuántas personas desarrollan esta complicación ni cómo la desencadena el virus.

Diferentes equipos de investigación han encontrado pistas que podrían explicar el fenómeno, como y las que soportan las células responsables de la función olfativa.

Pero el tema en los niños está poco estudiado. De hecho, según el doctor John McClay, especialista en otorrinolaringología pediátrica, existen relativamente pocos estudios sobre niños con cualquier tipo de alteración del olfato, y mucho menos los causados por covid.

“Todo es demasiado nuevo”, aseguró McClay, que también es presidente del comité de educación sobre otorrinolaringología de la Academia Americana de Pediatría. “No hay nada definitivo”.

El entrenamiento olfativo ha sido un tratamiento habitual en adultos que sufren este problema; ya sea por un trastorno neurológico como el Alzheimer, un tumor que bloquea el flujo de aire nasal o incluso algunos virus, covid incluido.

Por lo general, esto es lo que ocurre: los médicos prueban el sentido del olfato del paciente para establecer un punto de partida. A continuación, los adultos reciben un conjunto de aceites esenciales con determinados olores e instrucciones sobre cómo estimular la nariz en casa.

Los pacientes suelen oler cada aceite dos veces al día durante varias semanas o meses. Y documentan la experiencia. Al final del entrenamiento, los médicos vuelven a examinarlos para comprobar si han mejorado.

La doctora Yolanda Holler-Managan, neuróloga pediátrica y profesora adjunta de pediatría en la Escuela de Medicina Feinberg de la Universidad Northwestern, dijo que este método, que suele utilizarse en el tratamiento de adultos, podría funcionar también en los niños.

En ambos grupos de edad, el nervio olfativo puede regenerarse cada seis a ocho semanas. A medida que el nervio se cura, este entrenamiento puede ayudar a fortalecer el sentido del olfato.

“Es como ayudar a un músculo a fortalecerse de nuevo”, explicó.

A fines de la primavera pasada, cuando los médicos comenzaron a descubrir problemas de olfato y gusto en adultos con covid, el doctor Kenny Chan, especialista pediátrico en oído, nariz y garganta que supervisa la nueva clínica en Colorado, se dio cuenta de que esto también podría ser un problema para los niños.

La doctora Kathleen Sie, del Seattle Children’s Hospital, observó lo mismo cuando recibió un correo electrónico de alguien de un centro de urgencias local. Tras leer el mensaje, Sie llamó a Chan, del Colorado Children’s, para hablar del tema. A partir de esta conversación, Sie vio la necesidad de abrir una clínica para estimular el olfato.

Ambos médicos deben enfrentar las dificultades que el “entrenamiento olfativo” puede suponer para los niños. Una es que algunos pacientes pueden no saber identificar ciertos olores 鈥攍os aromas del eucalipto o las especias como el clavo, por ejemplo鈥 porque son demasiado jóvenes para tener un marco de referencia, señaló McClay.

Para abordar estas cuestiones, Chan tiene previsto modificar la utilizada para los adultos con elementos que puedan ser más reconocibles.

Encontrar a niños que sufren alteraciones del olfato también puede ser complicado. Muchos niños con covid son asintomáticos, y otros pueden ser demasiado jóvenes para verbalizar lo que les ocurre o reconocer lo que les falta.

No obstante, según McClay, el beneficio potencial de este sencillo tratamiento compensa el costo y las posibles dificultades que conlleva su aplicación en niños. Los kits de entrenamiento olfativo para adultos se venden por menos de $50.

“No hay datos que nos indiquen que esto sirva”, dijo Chan. “Pero si nadie se preocupa por analizar este problema, entonces no se va a resolver”.

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]]> 1282991 Nosing In on Kids Who Had Covid and Lost Their Sense of Smell /news/article/pediatric-covid-patients-loss-of-smell-scent-training/ Thu, 25 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000 https://khn.org/?post_type=article&p=1278165 Orange. Eucalyptus. Lavender. Peppermint.

Doctors at Children’s Hospital Colorado and Seattle Children’s Hospital will use scents like these to treat children who lost their sense of smell to covid-19. Parents will attend clinics and go home with a set of essential oils for their child to sniff twice a day for three months. Clinicians will check their progress monthly.

The Smell Disturbance Clinic at Children’s Hospital Colorado was approved to open March 10. So far, five children have been screened and one enrolled. Seattle Children’s expects to open its program this spring.

The treatment, known as “smell training,” is clinically proven to be effective in adults. However, clinicians said, there’s virtually no data on whether the method will work in children.

Although children are much less likely to develop covid or suffer its consequences than adults, the number of pediatric patients has steadily grown. More cases means more kids are demonstrating lingering symptoms known as “long covid.” Among these complaints is loss of smell.

The link between coronavirus infections and smell disturbances in adults is well documented in both patients with short-term disease and so-called long haulers. However, scientists are still unsure how many people develop this complication or how the virus triggers it. Different research teams have found clues that could explain the phenomenon, including and that support the cells responsible for olfactory function.

But scant research has focused on smell disturbances in children, said Dr. John McClay, a pediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon in Frisco, Texas 鈥 let alone those caused by covid. That’s because children seldom develop these issues, he said, and the novel coronavirus has been just that 鈥 novel.

“Everything’s so new,” said McClay, who is also the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics education committee on otolaryngology. “You can’t really hang your hat on anything.”

It Works for Adults. Will It Work for Kids?

One intervention for adults who lose their sense of smell 鈥 whether as a result of a neurological disorder like Alzheimer’s, a tumor blocking nasal airflow or any number of viruses, including covid 鈥 has been olfactory training.

It generally works like this: Doctors a patient’s sense of smell to establish a baseline. Then, adults are given a set of essential oils with certain scents and instructions on how to train their nose at home. Patients usually sniff each oil twice a day for several weeks to months. At the end of the training, doctors retest them to gauge whether they improved.

Dr. Yolanda Holler-Managan, a pediatric neurologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said she doesn’t see why this method wouldn’t work for children, too. In both age groups, the olfactory nerve can regenerate every six to eight weeks. As the nerve heals, training can help strengthen the sense of smell.

“It’s like helping a muscle get stronger again,” she said.

Late last spring, when doctors started discovering smell and taste issues in adults with covid, Dr. Kenny Chan, the pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist overseeing the new clinic in Colorado, realized this could be an issue with kids, too.

Dr. Kathleen Sie, chief of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at Seattle Children’s Hospital, became aware of the problem when she received an email from someone at a local urgent care center. After reading the message, Sie called Chan to talk about it. The conversation snowballed into her spearheading a smell-training clinic at her facility.

Both clinicians must contend with the challenges “smell training” may pose to children. For starters, some young patients may not know how to identify certain scents used in adult tests 鈥 spices such as cloves, for instance 鈥 because they’re too young to have a frame of reference, said McClay.

As a workaround, Chan substituted some scents for odors that might be more recognizable.

Finding children who are experiencing smell disturbances is also tricky. Many with covid are asymptomatic, and others may be too young to verbalize what they are experiencing or recognize what they are missing.

Nonetheless, McClay said, the potential benefit of the simple treatment outweighs the cost and challenges of setting it up for children. Adult smell-training kits sell for less than $50.

“There is zero data out there that says that this does anything,” said Chan. “But if no one cares to look at this question, then this question is not going to be solved.”

麻豆女优 Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at 麻豆女优鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

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]]> 1278165 Can Vaccination and Infection Rates Add Up to Reach Covid Herd Immunity? /news/article/can-vaccination-and-infection-rates-add-up-to-reach-covid-herd-immunity/ Wed, 17 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000 https://khn.org/?post_type=article&p=1276597 It’s been a long, dark winter of covid concerns, stoked by high post-holiday case counts and the American death tally exceeding 530,000 lives lost. But with three vaccines 鈥 Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson 鈥 now authorized for emergency use in the United States, there seems to be hope that the pandemic’s end may be in sight.

A recent analysis by the Wall Street research firm fueled this idea, suggesting as many as nine states were already reaching the coveted “herd immunity” status as of March 7, signaling that a return to normal was close at hand.

“Presumed 鈥榟erd immunity’ is 鈥榯he combined value of infections + vaccinations as % population > 60%,’” noted a by a CNBC anchor based on a more complete analysis by the firm. That got us thinking: Does this calculation hold up?

First, do public health experts generally consider herd immunity to kick in at 60%? In addition, does current scientific thinking equate protection from the antibodies generated by past covid infections with the same degree of protection as a vaccination?

We decided to find out.

First, a review of herd immunity. Also known as community or population immunity, the term is used to describe the point at which enough people are sufficiently resistant 鈥 or have an immune response 鈥 to an infectious agent that it has difficulty spreading to others.

In this explainer, we noted that people generally gain immunity either from vaccination or infection. For contagious diseases that have marked modern history 鈥 smallpox, polio, diphtheria or rubella 鈥 vaccines have been the mechanism through which herd immunity was achieved.

While the United States is getting closer to this point, most health experts caution, it still has ground to cover. Fundstrat’s analysis offered a rosier take. Although the site is located behind a paywall, the chart generated buzz on and in news outlets like the .

Fundstrat relied on a variety of sources 鈥 particularly, a data scientist and pandemic modeler named 鈥 to determine what level of immunity a state needs to stamp out covid, said , the firm’s head of data science research. From there, analysts created a chart intended to track the level of covid immunity in each state. They calculated the number by adding the percentage of people estimated to have been infected with the virus to the percentage of people who had received the vaccine.

Xuan, who was quick to note that he is not a public health expert, said he and his team followed Gu’s predictions and arrived at 60%, a figure he acknowledges is an assumption.

“The idea would be we don’t know if 60% is true,” he said. However, if states that have reached this threshold see steep declines in covid cases, “then it’s the number to watch.”

What About the 60% Marker?

Throughout the pandemic, health experts have tended to set the magic number for herd immunity between 50% and 70% 鈥 with most, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, leaning toward the higher end of the spectrum.

“I would say 75 to 85% would have to get vaccinated if you want to have that blanket of herd immunity,” he told in December.

The experts we consulted were skeptical of the 60% figure, saying the mechanics of the Fundstrat analysis were relatively sound but oversimplified.

Ali Mokdad, chief strategy officer for population health at the University of Washington, said the level of immunity needed to reach this goal can vary due to several factors. “Nobody knows what is herd immunity for covid-19 because it’s a new virus,” he said.

That said, Mokdad described using 60% as “totally wrong.” Data from other communities around the world show covid outbreaks happening at or near that level of immunity, he said. Indeed, the city of Manaus in Brazil saw cases drop for several months, then despite three-fourths of their residents already having had the virus.

Josh Michaud, associate director for global health policy at 麻豆女优, described the 60% assumption as “off-base.”

And some said it wasn’t even the main point.

Dr. Jeff Engel, senior adviser for covid at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, said the question of herd immunity may not even be relevant because, regarding covid, we may never reach it. The novel virus may become endemic, he said, which means it will continue circulating like influenza or the common cold. For him, lowering deaths and hospitalizations is more important.

“The concept of herd immunity means that once we reach the threshold, it’s going to go away,” Engel said. “That’s not the case. That’s a false notion.”

Natural and Vaccine Immunity 鈥 Should They Be Lumped Together?

When asked why the Fundstrat analysis treated the two types of immunity as equivalent, Xuan said it was an assumption.

Here’s what current science supports.

Those who receive any of the in the United States enjoy a high level of protection against getting seriously sick and dying from covid 鈥 even after one dose of a two-shot series.

In addition, people who were infected and recovered from the virus appear to retain some protection for at least after testing positive. Immunity may be lower and decline faster among people who developed few to no symptoms.

Practically speaking, two experts said, natural and vaccine-induced immunity work the same way in the body. This lends credibility to Fundstrat’s approach.

However, some health experts consider vaccine-induced immunity to be better than the protection generated by the infection because it may be more robust, said Michaud. Researchers are still figuring out whether people who were infected with the virus but experienced mild or no symptoms generated an immune response as strong as those who developed more severe disease.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites the unknowns surrounding natural immunity and the risk of getting sick again with covid as reasons for those who had the virus聽 a vaccine.

“They haven’t been studied well at all yet,” said Engel, in reference to asymptomatic people. “And maybe we’re going to discover that a large group of them didn’t develop really robust immunity.”

Both types of viral protection leave room for potential breakthrough infections, Michaud said. Neither offers “perfect immunity,” he said. And wild cards remain. How long do both types of immunity last? How do different people’s systems respond? How protected will people be from emerging coronavirus variants?

“It’s a witches’ brew of different factors to consider when you’re trying to estimate herd immunity at this point,” said Michaud.

麻豆女优 Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at 麻豆女优鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

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