MONDAY, July 11, 2022 (Health Day News) -- In a promising development, new research has discovered that most adults with blood cancers develop at least some immunity to COVID-19 after getting booster shots.
" Our findings build on the wealth of literature showing that patients with hematologic malignancies have an impaired response to COVID vaccination," said study author Dr. Thomas, an assistant professor of medicine in the department of hematology and oncology at Brown University in Rhode Island.
" Importantly, we show that many of these patients who did not respond initially will in fact have a response to booster vaccination," he added in a university news release.
People with blood cancer, including leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, have impaired immune systems due to the disease. Then treatment, which includes chemotherapy, handicaps the immune system even more.
The study, published July 11 in the journal Cancer, found that less than half of patients with blood cancers developed detectable antibodies after their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
However, 56% of those who were "non-responders" were able to produce antibodies against the disease after their first booster dose.
For the study, the Brown University team analyzed antibody responses among 378 patients with blood cancer. Of those, the investigators found that COVID antibodies were found in the blood of 181 patients (48%) after receiving their initial vaccines. But booster shots were found to be an effective treatment for 48 out of the 85 patients (56%) who were unable to develop antibodies the first time. Patients with active cancer or those currently in treatment were least likely to effectively produce antibodies against the disease.
By the end of the study period, 33 patients had developed a COVID-19 infection, and three patients died from conditions stemming from a COVID infection. No patients in the study with antibody responses died from COVID-19, the researchers said.
The study included patients who were also being treated with the antibody cocktail, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use during the pandemic to help prevent infection in high-risk individuals. The researchers noted that those who received those therapies were not diagnosed with a COVID infection over the course of the study.
" This is real-world evidence that these actions can save lives," Ollila added.
The majority of Americans have had the coronavirus at some point in the past two and a half years. A smaller number – though still a substantial proportion – went on to have lingering symptoms for months or longer from a condition known as long COVID-19.
Just how many people have had long COVID or are still experiencing it? Estimates vary, but the numbers might be a surprise to many. And the high estimates could signal lingering problems for America’s health care systems as well as the economy even after the pandemic is over. According to federal government estimates released last month, nearly 1 in 5 adults who have had COVID-19 in the past were still experiencing at least one symptom of long COVID – fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog, chest pain and headaches among others – as of mid-June. The number jumps to more than 1 in 3 when considering adults who have experienced the condition at any point in the pandemic after COVID-19 infection.
The statistics are “pretty scary,” according to Mikhail Kagan, the director of the George Washington University Center for Integrative Medicine.
“ If we don't stop this, if it's continuous the way it is, we will have potentially a magnitude of most of the population at some point developing some long COVID symptoms,” Kagan says.
But experts say the resources to handle the tens of millions of Americans with long COVID are insufficient. Ashley Drape, the director of the center’s long COVID program, says some clinics dedicated to treating the condition have a waiting period of months or even years before patients can be seen.
“ These patients are sitting at home unable to work, unable to take care of their families,” says Drape, who had long COVID after contracting COVID-19 in December 2020. “Debilitated young people having to quit school – and they're faced with very limited options.”
That number could amass into a new wave of chronic illness that will continue to grow, with guaranteed implications for the economy as well as health care systems. A Government Accountability Office report published in March found that long COVID has “potentially affected up to 23 million Americans, pushing an estimated 1 million people out of work,” and that number is likely higher now. While the study did find that the physical and mental health of the patients improved over time, it still suggested that coronavirus patients have poorer health and quality of life than the general population two years after hospitalization.
He says that despite increasing long COVID numbers, there isn’t a strong, centralized push for more funding or resources. Instead, it’s more of a “wait and see” approach. He acknowledges that many people eventually recover from the condition even without treatment, stresses that people could recover sooner with help.
You must be logged in to post a comment.