How contagious are vaccinated people who become infected with corona despite being vaccinated?
A study provides the first information.
A new
corona study from Oxford is
currently causing a stir.
The focus is on a comparison between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
The results suggest that
there could be
a similar
risk of infection
for fellow human beings, whether with a full vaccination against Corona * or without.
You can find out more about what the study is about and how experts assess the situation here.
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A new study compares the virus load of vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Can you find out more about the risk of infection in this way?
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© Westend61 / Imago
Corona study: vaccinated and unvaccinated people similarly contagious?
The study by Oxford University is currently only published as a preprint and has not yet been examined by an independent panel of experts. As part of a large-scale study by the UK Office for National Statistics, the researchers evaluated results from over three million samples. These were
nasopharyngeal swabs
from people that were taken at several specified times. Some of
the test subjects were
already completely
vaccinated with the corona vaccines from Biontech or Astrazeneca
, and some of the subjects were
unvaccinated
.
It was found that the
virus load of vaccinated
persons
infected with the now dominant
delta variant * of
the coronavirus was similar to that of people who have not yet received a corona vaccination.
This had not yet been the case
with the
alpha variant
.
The scientists were able to show this because they were able to examine data samples from the time when the alpha variant was still predominant.
But what is meant by the virus load?
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Oxford study shows: Delta variant causes higher virus load
Definition of virus load
According to the German Center for Infection Research, this term generally refers to the determined number of viruses in a specific amount of patient's blood. In the context of the corona pandemic, the virus load is generally understood to be the number of copies of the genetic material of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus in a PCR sample. This is used to approximate the amount of viruses in a patient's throat, which in turn can be used to make predictions about the possible infectivity of infected people.
The fact that
vaccinated people infected
with the
delta variant
now have
a similarly high
virus load
as unvaccinated people goes hand in hand with previous studies that already certified the delta variant of the coronavirus to be more infectious, reports 24.vita.de *. The researchers' results also showed that vaccinated people are less likely to be infected with the Delta variant than people without a corona vaccination; nevertheless, the virus load with Delta is higher than it was with the Alpha variant.
However, the researchers also add that a higher
virus load does not necessarily have to be related to an increased risk of infection
.
Previous studies would suggest that there is another possibility.
The viruses in vaccinated people could occur in high numbers, but they may not be able to multiply.
The virus load could also decrease more quickly, which would also be suggested by a study.
Corona research: that's what experts say about the new Oxford study
The Science Media Center in London
spoke
to various
experts about the results
. Simon Clarke, Associate Professor of Cellular Microbiology at the University of Reading emphasizes: “While vaccinated people are less likely to be infected with corona, we also see that the vaccination does not affect the amount of virus in the delta variant that is spread through coughing or sneezing. Although the vaccination reduces the number of people infected and the number of asymptomatic courses of infection,
we
still
have to take corona symptoms very seriously
in those who
have been completely vaccinated
. "
Penny Ward, visiting professor of pharmaceutical medicine at Kings College London, agrees.
In view of the study results, in her opinion, the focus must continue to be on aspects such as
corona tests and consistent traceability
.
This is the only way to reduce the number of infections, she emphasizes.
(Sophia Lother)
* Merkur.de and 24.vita.de are offers from IPPEN.MEDIA.
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List of rubric lists: © Westend61 / Imago
