Wondering About People with Covid-19

We are about to leave behind the first year of the COVID-2019 pandemic caused by the virus called SARS-CoV-2, which started with the first cases in China in December 19 and spread all over the world.

So, what do we know about COVID-19 vaccines, which are currently a matter of curiosity all over the world? Should people with COVID-19 get vaccinated? Could people with the disease be COVID-19 again? One-year experiences and comments on antibody tests and protection… All the curious ones are Pediatric Health and Diseases / Pediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Serkan Akinci answered.

When the December 2020 issues are examined, we see that there are more than 80 million cases in the world and more than 1.7 million people have been lost due to illness. In our country, where the first case was seen on 11 March 2019, the number of cases exceeded 2 million, unfortunately, nearly 20 thousand people died due to COVID-19. While discussing control measures such as masks, distance and hygiene in the early stages of the pandemic, it has been updated in the light of scientific developments in the topics discussed today, especially the COVID-19 vaccines, and the questions about COVID-19.

Exp. Dr. Serkan Atıcı said, “Especially the high number of people who had COVID-19 and the increasing number of them brought various questions and problems about these people. To share the most curious questions and problems about people who have had COVID-19, which sometimes cause confusion in people, some patients or their relatives, sometimes our colleagues have asked us through various communication ways, and which we think are important to raise awareness of the society, in the light of current scientific information. we wanted. '' he said.

Can a person recovering from COVID-19 get the same disease again? If so, would it be heavier?

One year of experience has shown that although the exact rate is not known among those who recover, there is a risk of recurrence of the disease at the rates stated as 0.01% -0.1% in some sources. There are sample cases both in our country and in various parts of the world. The biggest misperception here is the generalization of individual examples that appear in the press or heard from the environment for everyone. The immune system structure of everyone is not the same, and the immunization, that is, whether or not to create protection against the disease, the level of protection created by people with COVID-19, and how long and how much protection will protect the person.

At this point, it is also useful to open a subtitle to the SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests, which are being used widely and are becoming increasingly common. Antibodies are responses produced by humoral immunity, one of the components of the immune system, specific to antigens (virus or viral components in the vaccine). Although the antibody response offers us some interpretation, it is not known exactly how long the antibody response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will last, when it will decrease and end, and how long it will protect the person. Scientific studies will show this in time and in this time. It has also been observed that some people who survive COVID-19 cannot develop antibodies. This may not indicate that the person is not immunized. Thanks to the immunization that develops due to the activation of different regions of the immune system (cellular immunity), protection may also be provided in these individuals. For these reasons, there is no scientific basis for people who suffer from the disease to have their antibody levels checked repeatedly at different times with the approach that my protection still continues.

When the cases with the disease for the second time are examined, it is possible to say that some of them have the disease mildly or asymptomatically from the first, most of them have similar severity, some have more severe than the first, and even the world literature has lost during the second time. The perception that passing the disease for the second time will definitely be more severe than the first is also wrong.

In summary; Although it is possible to pass COVID-19 a second time or even more than two times, the rate of those who have had it for a second time in a short period such as the first year of the disease is very low. It would be a correct approach for all people, especially healthcare workers, who are very frequently and intensely exposed to this virus, to pay maximum attention to control measures and measures taken without being complacent even if they have the disease.

Does the Person Who Has COVID-19 Need to Have the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Exp. Dr. Serkan Atıcı said, “There is no clear scientific consensus on this issue at the moment. Various expert opinions are available. Considering that the rate of relapse is below 0.1%, that the previous disease provides protection for 90-95% of healthy individuals up to 6 months according to current findings, and the lack of sufficient data on how the local or systemic effects of the vaccine will be in people who have the disease, especially the last 1 We recommend that those who had the disease within -2 months or even 6 months ago should not be vaccinated for this period. Until the information on this subject becomes clear and a consensus is reached, it will be right for people with different health conditions to meet with their physicians and make a joint decision with their physician in line with the expert opinion.