Herd immunity in first town probably achieved - but the price for it is extremely high

The Brazilian city of Manaus could make history in the corona pandemic.

A study suggests that herd immunity could be achieved there - at a high cost.

• Manaus could have developed the world's first

  herd immunity

  to the coronavirus.

• Around

  66 percent

  of people

  in the Brazilian city were already

  infected.

• But the unusual development has claimed a great many victims.

Manaus - At first glance, it looks like a

come true.

Because the Brazilian city of

could have developed

against the

.

But if you look more closely at the case, it quickly becomes clear that the wonderful salvation came at an extremely high price.

The

* has also been

raging

in Brazil

since March

.

It is the country with the third highest number of cases in the world, after the US and India.

Over

have died there from the virus in the past few months.

Manaus was no exception to this situation.

The city in the

was badly shaken, especially in the spring the numbers exploded.

But then they sank again - and without any special measures.

How can this be explained?

A pandemic dream come true?

Manaus may have achieved herd immunity

The city of over a million people may have achieved

.

At least

that is

an international team of researchers suspects in a

that was

uploaded

to the

preprint

few days ago

.

For their examination, the experts

tested

thousands of

from blood donors in Manaus and São Paulo for

against Sars-CoV-2 and were able to show how many of them were already infected with the virus.

The authors of the study state that around

the residents of Manaus

must have already had

the

and are therefore at least temporarily immune. * This rate is high enough to be able to speak of herd immunity.

This means that the virus

within this specific group

.

The study has not yet been reviewed by specialist colleagues, the results are therefore preliminary.

Still, the analysis is remarkable.

Herd immunity in Manaus: But the price for the city was brutally high

But if the experts were right, it would also be clear: the

for this herd immunity was enormous.

According to the researchers' explanations, over

in Manaus, a number that cannot be precisely identified was

and potentially suffered from

for years to come

.

The study gives an impressive insight into what can happen if the virus is largely given

rein - without protective measures and rules.

But the authors themselves warn that the results can

.

Regional and local differences in terms of “demographics, behavior, susceptibility to infection and implementation of and compliance with non-pharmaceutical measures” are too different.

Corona pandemic: Clear words from the WHO - Herd immunity is not a solution

The

(WHO)

Covid-19 Commissioner

, Maria van Kerkhove, recently emphasized that the world's population can only be

protected

from the coronavirus in the long term through

.

It is not an option to hope for extensive immunity by infecting as many people as possible with the pathogen.

For this, a lot of people would have to become infected, many would become seriously ill and would have to go to hospitals.

"Achieving herd immunity naturally is dangerous because a

would

," she said.

“There isn't a single infectious disease that has been brought under control by relying on

",

underlined WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan.

The

Bundestag Karl Lauterbach is not a supporter of herd immunity either.

There is no better way to illustrate the concept of herd immunity ... pic.twitter.com/8Z0RGBmLRZ

- Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) September 21, 2020

Herd immunity does not mean permanent protection - is Manaus still threatening the second wave?

There is one more thing to consider: It is by no means certain that possible herd immunity

.

Some studies have already shown that the antibodies also disappear from the blood of people who have been infected.

The researchers in

have also

observed this.

A

* cannot therefore be ruled out in the future.

Manaus is by no means a model to imitate.

In the video: The Robert Koch Institute advised against an infection months ago