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SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

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101–110 of 292 posts

Re: SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

#101

As other commenters have noted, this case study further supports the widespread observations that COVID-19 vaccines reduce the chance of severe (symptomatic) illness but do not necessarily prevent infection and transmission. The authors of this study conjecture that the unvaccinated asymptomatic “patient 40” may have been the source of the infections seen in the other fully vaccinated patients - however this was a mi…

My understanding is that there is very little evidence of vaccinated individuals actually transmitting the original ("wild-type") virus, or even the Alpha variant (obviously, Delta/Gamma are potentially different beasts). This was why we in the United States dropped mask mandates for vaccinated individuals. I don't know why the narrative always reverts to "oh, the vaccines just decrease symptoms", a statement unsupported by evidence.

EDIT: Before I get downvoted completely into oblivion, take a look at the 90% reduction in infections, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, seen in vaccinated individuals in Israel. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33964222/

I think we can all agree that you can't transmit the virus if you yourself don't get infected.

Re: SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

#102
post #93

As other commenters have noted, this case study further supports the widespread observations that COVID-19 vaccines reduce the chance of severe (symptomatic) illness but do not necessarily prevent infection and transmission. The authors of this study conjecture that the unvaccinated asymptomatic “patient 40” may have been the source of the infections seen in the other fully vaccinated patients - however this was a mi…

> One counterpoint that I’ve come across during my own review of the literature, is the idea that imperfect vaccines can cause selective pressure which enhances the fitness of highly virulent pathogens. This is what happened with "Marek's disease", a virus-caused disease in chickens. The vaccine was "leaky" and ended up selecting for a more deadly form, such that now all chickens worldwide have to be vaccinated for i…

Not all chicken get vaccinated.

Re: SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

#105
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One counterpoint that I’ve come across during my own review of the literature, is the idea that imperfect vaccines can cause selective pressure which enhances the fitness of highly virulent pathogens. This is what happened with "Marek's disease", a virus-caused disease in chickens. The vaccine was "leaky" and ended up selecting for a more deadly form, such that now all chickens worldwide have to be vaccinated for i…

So does this mean we made this pandemic worse than the one from 1918 when we didn't have a vaccine?

No. First off, we still haven't had the level of death that we had in 1918, and almost certainly won't. Second, the narrative of vaccinated individuals being major spreaders of this disease is false. The virus is evolving due to mutations occurring while hopping from one unvaccinated person to another, full stop.

Re: SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

#106
post #3

"No clinically severe COVID-19 (1) was observed, and no patient was hospitalized" In other words, this case study is a relatively ordinary result in line with what we know: that the major COVID-19 vaccines greatly reduce the chance of severe illness but leave nontrivial chance of infection and transmission.

Dying means the Vaccine is working.

Re: SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

#107

Does anyone know if their is a correlation between how contagious a variant is and how lethal it is? For example, MERS has a 35% CFR but wasn't a global health disaster because it wasn't highly contagious. Same goes for Ebola, which is even more fatal but even less contagious. My point/question - the more contagious a Covid-19 variant = lower CFR?

The virus spreads fast long before symptoms appear, so the severity of disease is not necessarily correlated.

Re: SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

#108
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how you came to this decision rule. There are plenty of things which strictly decrease my mortality rate, by some non-zero amount, which I do not do and are not recommended for me.

20-somethings are at a lower risk for mortality, that doesn't mean they won't suffer long COVID symptoms like arthritis and reduced lung function. And also infect more vulnerable age groups.

True. However, because viral fatigue and related complications are generally present among symptomatic people (and 20-somethings are less symptomatic than other age-cohorts) it might well be that your risk of these things is also lower-- even if, conditioned on being symptomatic, the risk of "long-COVID" in 20-somethings is higher. I think the jury is still out regarding risk ratios for long-COVID, however-- partly because the pathology is rather ill-defined and still developing.

The more important point is just that viral fatigue and respiratory complications are not new things. They are present for a range of viruses. The mere existence of these factors is not pertinent to the "public good" point that the original comment centered on.

Re: SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

#109
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also know that confirmed cases are mainly among the unvaccinated and serious outcomes are nearly all (99%) among unvaccinated, despite fully vaccinated and unvaccinated being roughly equal populations in the US at present.

That's not true at all. 50% of new cases in Israel are among the vaccinated. https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/06/nearly-50-of-israel...

The vaccinated represent nearly 2/3 of the population of Israel, moreover vaccinated people are more likely to let down their guard.

Re: SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners

#110

"Mine workers were mostly men (42/44); median age was 53.3 years. Eighteen of the workers had risk factors for severe COVID-19: high blood pressure (11/44), diabetes mellitus (4/44), or obesity (4/44)." "The overall attack rate was 54.5% (24/44); 87% were symptomatic, 65% with fever, and 22.6% with dyspnea. No clinically severe COVID-19 (1) was observed, and no patient was hospitalized." This make sense. If more seve…

All of this really depends on the specifics of the disease. For example, HIV is pretty much 100% fatal and it has remained so over the last 40 years. Syphilis and Leprosy also have high fatality rates and have been around for 2000+ years. If a fatal disease doesn't kill the host for a while then it can easily become more transmissible while still being very harmful.

Wait, you think that HIV is still 100% fatal? What year do you think it is? Or maybe you mean untreated HIV?
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