By Karen Kier
Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team
In the English language, Uber denotes an outstanding example of a particular kind of thing. However, most of us are familiar with Uber being used to describe a company that offers ride sharing services and food delivery. So with all of the bad COVID-19 news with cases increasing and hospital beds filling as well as mask mandates returning, what is the good news?
The Journal of the American Medical Association published an interesting article in the July 28, 2021 issue. The article talked about the donation of blood samples from some of the first United States COVID-19 patients to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the spring of 2020. Researchers have recently started evaluating the blood samples as the new COVID-19 viral variants have been emerging throughout the world. The samples had been thawed out from frozen storage almost a year later to evaluate antibody response in those patients' samples. The scientists were wondering how the antibodies would respond to the variants including the delta variant, which is becoming increasingly more common in the country.
The researchers were shocked to find that some of the patients produced four extremely potent antibodies against COVID-19, including the ability to fight off variants. Some of the antibodies were labeled as ultrapotent in small concentrations that showed effective responses to 23 different variants. The researchers named these antibodies uberantibodies. The uberantibodies were an outstanding example of a particular thing.
Important aspects of this information are that not all patients form these uberantibodies that display exceptional potency, but those antibodies are a new research gold mine. Why is this so important? Researchers are hoping that these uberantibodies will lead to new COVID-19 therapy options as well as the development of new vaccine science. The scientists are hopeful that this uberantibody will provide a basis for generating antibodies that can successfully defend against all SARS-CoV-2 virus variants. This research could lead to drugs that are more effective against the COVID-19 virus than what is currently available on the market.
The uberantibody could start a different vaccine development that could provide a more global protection against variants. Some researchers have suggested the uberantibodies have the potential to protect from COVID-19 and eliminate the disease as a health threat. Research has identified areas of the spike protein within the SARS-CoV-2 virus that appear to be resistant to mutations that result in variants thereby creating an ideal area to target. If scientists can take advantage of this finding, they may be able to design vaccines that stay ahead of variant changes to COVID-19. Vaccine researchers indicate that this technology is not currently being used in other vaccines and it opens the door for a new line of vaccine research that could benefit research for other viruses as well.
The July 14, 2021 Journal of the American Medical Association published some good news for those individuals who experienced a COVID-19 infection and then received a COVID-19 vaccine after recovery from the infection. Researchers have shown that the COVID-19 vaccine provides a big boost in lasting immunity against another COVID-19 infection. The original research was published in the journal Nature. The study involved adult patients who had recovered from their COVID-19 infections and then received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine an average of 40 days after recovery. The study team found that the vaccine improved the patients' immune response beyond the antibodies from the actual infection. The study showed that their bodies were still producing antibodies to COVID-19 for a year. The study compared the patients who had been vaccinated to those patients who had a COVID-19 infections but did not receive the vaccine. The vaccinated participants had a 50-fold increase in antibody formation compared to the unvaccinated. This study combined with a French study looking at unvaccinated health care workers who had COVID-19 infections is a strong warning for the role of the vaccine after COVID-19 infection recovery. The French study showed that 47% of the unvaccinated health care workers who had COVID were able to produce antibodies to the delta variant.
A few patients who had a COVID-19 infection will be able to fight against the delta variant if they were lucky enough to be an uberantibody producer. Without knowing antibody status, the evidence is clearly pointing to the additional benefit of a COVID-19 vaccine after recovery from a COVID-19 infection especially against the delta variant.
The Ohio Northern University Drug and Health Information Center continues to monitor the world literature. The website to submit a question is https://www.onu.edu/student-life/health-and-wellness-resources/onu-healt....
Feel free to call the ONU HealthWise Pharmacy or talk to your health care professional. ONU HealthWise is offering walk-ins for COVID-19 vaccines. Call the pharmacy to get more information on how you can get vaccinated.
