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MASS VACCINATION WILL be needed for populations to reach herd immunity and prevent further resurgences of the pandemic, a new study based on data from Wuhan has found.
Published in The Lancet, the study suggests that 6.9% of the population of the Chinese city had Covid-19 antibodies by April 2020.
Of these, 40% of people had developed neutralising antibodies – which protect against future infection – and these remained stable for at least nine months.
Further, 82% of participants who had tested positive for Covid antbodies had not experienced any symptoms of the disease.
Wuhan was where the first cases of a “pneumonia of unknown origin” were reported in December 2019.
The study involved sourcing data from over 9,000 participants. Blood samples were taken to test if antibodies were present in mid-April 2020, mid-June and between October and December.
Of the 9,542 participants, 532 had antibodies against Covid-19. Four in five participants who had antibodies were asymptomatic cases. The study’s authors said this is much higher than other estimates reported around the world. They said this may be due to recall bias where a person is asked to report their own symptoms months later.
Due to the relatively low presence of the disease among the population, researchers said that is unlikely that herd immunity will be achieved without effective mass vaccination campaigns.
Its lead author Dr Chen Wang, from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, said: “Assessing the proportion of the population that have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and who are immune is of utmost importance for determining effective prevention and control strategies to reduce the likelihood of future resurgence of the pandemic.
Given that individuals with mild infections might not seek medical care and that asymptomatic individuals are not usually screened, there may be large discrepancies between the reported Covid-19 cases, and actual infected cases, which has been proven by the experiences and data from other countries.
In a linked comment on the study, Professor Richard Strugnell and Dr Nancy Wang from the Doherty Institute in Australia said: “Given the relative paucity of neutralising antibodies through natural infection, the study by He and colleagues reinforces the need for effective Covid-19 vaccines in the population-level control of the disease.
“The extraordinary, rapid, and effective control measures implemented in Wuhan might have restricted the spread of the virus, but also reduced naturally-acquired herd immunity by truncating the development of sustained neutralising antibodies.”
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Everyone wants the easy way out and a magic pill for everything these days but what kind of chemicals are we pumping into our bodies . That aside there are many benefits to going to a gym or exercising that a pill won’t give you like a social outlet, enjoyment, routine, positive affects on mental health, a sense of pride and achievement particularly for those involved in competitive sport and lots more. Exercise should be part of a normal healthy lifestyle not a chore. Find something you enjoy doing it’s not all about the gym or pounding the roads.
@Cheryl Mellett: I enjoying familiarizing myself to the couch every evening after a hard days graft so taking a pill to stay in shape might be a great solution for me
@Cheryl Mellett: Damn straight, the only true successes ever come from the time and effort you put in. Want to achieve something, avoid the short cuts, otherwise you achieve nothing! http://www.bodycoach.ie
@Cheryl Mellett: Squash or Handball
@Michael Bodycoach: Another witch doctor who has ‘the best plan’. Fitness coaches are the same as cult leaders, pyramid schemes, and palm readers, except arguably worse.
@Phillip Maguire: ha ha, you know nothing of what I do. I use science based techniques to get results. I do it the right way. I’m in no way affiliated to Mr Wicks
Can’t beat hillwalking, better than any gym.
@classic: absolutely. I don’t get why people would go and torture themselves in a big tin box with an intake of germs and other peoples sweat on a retail park when we have such a beautiful country. Nature heals the mind, delivers fitness as well as an education and tuning into the natural environment. Its free.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: Because there are weights in the gym. Next question?
@classic: doesn’t really do much for the upper body, but is a great fat burner
@Alan Currie: until such a time as your body adapts and then it’s a plateau
@Nucky: you can say that about any exercise though, a plateau isn’t some bad thing if you’re maintaining a strong balanced body and gotten to a position where you’re happy, you don’t have to keep building like some obsessive type.
Long article. In short eat less, move more and don’t drink lots…. I’m a failure at the last one, that’s my personal downfall.
@Radioska: Tell me about it, been on the piss for 2 weeks mate, feel like I’m just talkin to myself. Stops tomorrow for 4 days of liver self cleansing.
Don’t care how you train, you’ll NEVER outtrain a bad diet. I learned that one the hard way. Fix the diet first, and often its just the basics…. reasonable daily calorie deficit, right balance of protein/carbs/macros and you’re laughing. Exercise to tone and build muscle. Give it time, et voila!!
While gyms are great places for doing high intensity exercise in short spats, I have taken to regular hill-walking again to stay in shape. Gyms can be somewhat soulless given that the exercise is all in doors. Plus, you are in the one spot for the entire time when exercising which can be monotonous and somewhat demotivating. Having said that, the exercise in a gym is far less time-consuming IF it is highly intensive.
Outdoor exercise is much better as it gives the exerciser fresh natural air and breathtaking views (depending on the route). Plus, a shop or two along the way is a great way for short breaks and also a bottle of water to keep hydrated. It can also be very social if you have a partner or when you meet people en route.
@Patrick Brophy: Plenty of free groups on meetup.com for anyone wanting to give it a go, with the safety of a group.
Invest in a bike. Or Dublin Bike it. Commuting by bike and a weekend excursion of at least 60 minutes. That minimum will give you a noticeable benefit. Also trail or hill walking is good, but best done with others.
@Finn Faulkner: Thats fine until you get hit by a car, a bus, a pothole, a car door. Cycling, unfortunately, is deadly.
Just because you squat and lift weights in a gym doesn’t make you fit, it’s mostly superficial. Hillwalking make you very fit.
I don’t have time for eating or drinking properly because I have two jobs and a long commute. If there was something that helped I’d take it. Any time I start exercising my periods stop which just causes more stress, less eating etc.
i bet theres a couch potato out there who’s downing these pills and wondering why they are still fat
have your say