Immunocompromised
There's mounting research to suggest that protecting people who are immuno-compromised from getting COVID is important not just for their sake – it could be critical in the effort to end the pandemic for everyone - Nurith Aizenman
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‘I felt this huge relief’: how antibody injections could free the immunosuppressed under Covid
A proud sports mom, Shantay Brown longs to pack into a crowded stadium for her son’s Ohio State football games and scream her face off over the action on the field.
But as with so many other simple pleasures in the age of Covid-19, nothing is that simple for Brown. The 47-year-old Missouri resident takes immunosuppressant medication for lupus. Consequently, her body has mounted virtually no antibody response to the coronavirus vaccine – leaving her in persistent peril.
Brown is among the estimated 3% of American adults who have immunosuppression, including transplant recipients and people with cancer and autoimmune disorders such as lupus.
For these millions,…
Resources
Hospitals use a lottery to allocate scarce COVID drugs for the immunocompromised
The government provides Evusheld to states based on their total adult populations. The approach doesn't prioritize where the need is greatest.
The Millions of People Stuck in Pandemic Limbo
What does society owe immunocompromised people?
What to Know About Evusheld, the New Monoclonal Antibody Drug to Prevent COVID-19 in the Immunocompromised
Experts are hopeful that this preventive medication, taken before any exposure to COVID-19, will provide an extra layer of protection to those who may not mount a full immune response to the vaccine.
Booster shots alone won’t protect immunocompromised people from Covid-19
This is where I lose sleep. The health of immunocompromised people depends on far more than a Covid-19 booster shot. What they —and the rest of us — need is more people in the general population to be vaccinated, and quickly,
Coronavirus Briefing: A Pandemic of the Forgotten
Some immunocompromised people feel left out of the narrative.
For Immunocompromised People, the Pandemic Is Far From Over
Dr. Lindsay Ryan is passionate about getting people vaccinated. She trains college students to go out into communities and just talk to people about it, listen to their concerns, always with the goal of getting more shots in arms. But this work is hard for her, too, because although the vaccines are highly effective in the vast majority of people, they don’t work on her—she has an autoimmune condition.
Immunocompromised people make up nearly half of COVID-19 breakthrough hospitalizations – an extra vaccine dose may help
Early on in the pandemic, researchers learned that immunocompromised people infected with COVID-19 tend to have particularly severe and long-lasting infections. This leads to prolonged viral shedding, meaning that the period during which these infected people release the virus as they breathe, talk and eat is much longer. Thus, they have a higher chance of transmitting the virus to others.
New concerns about coronavirus evolution in immunosuppressed patients
Experts call for tighter precautions, better treatments, more research.
Vaccines Won’t Protect Millions of Patients With Weakened Immune Systems
Many cannot produce enough infection-fighting cells to fend off the coronavirus. But researchers are testing one therapy that may help: monoclonal antibodies.
“What Exactly Is the Plan for Us?”
For the immunocompromised, the pandemic has been scarier, riskier, and longer. And with vaccines not offering safety, the question is: What will?
A Better Way to Think About Your Risk for COVID
For months we’ve been fixated on the idea that some people are at “high risk” and others aren’t. Now scientists have a better understanding of the continuum.
I'm Immunocompromised and Freaking Out About the World Reopening
For some people, life won't go back to normal when we're all allowed to go back outside.
Living With Immunosuppression During The Coronavirus Outbreak
Right now Americans are working on how to negotiate daily life in the cloud of the coronavirus, but for those who have a compromised immune system, each decision is all the more fraught, since one misstep could prove deadly.
Older and immunocompromised people don’t deserve to be second-class citizens
Here’s how to shorten the isolation of our most vulnerable citizens.
Pfizer and Moderna shots are less effective in people with weak immune systems, a study finds
The Moderna vaccine also offered more protection to people with weakened immune systems than did the Pfizer shot, mirroring results seen across American adults. And certain people with immune deficiencies — especially organ or stem cell transplant recipients, who often take drugs to suppress their immune systems and prevent rejection of the transplant — showed weaker responses to Covid vaccines than other categories of immunocompromised people did.
Protecting The Immuno-Compromised Against COVID Could Be Key To Ending The Pandemic
There's mounting research to suggest that protecting people who are immuno-compromised from getting COVID is important not just for their sake – it could be critical in the effort to end the pandemic for everyone. The evidence comes from two separate strands of studies.
There are more immunocompromised Americans than we think, and that’s a problem with COVID-19 vaccines
The COVID-19 pandemic has held an extra layer of uncertainty for immunocompromised people, who in some cases face an increased risk of contracting severe disease.
There Might Finally Be a COVID Solution for Immunocompromised People Like Me
A new use of a familiar—and coveted—drug might be our ticket out.
There's one population that gets overlooked by an 'everyone will get COVID' mentality
But he stresses that people who are immunocompromised are not a monolithic group. Some patients are responding well to COVID-19 vaccines. And even for those who are not, like people who have undergone organ transplants, there's hope in new medications like Paxlovid, Pfizer's pill.
What does it mean to be immunocompromised? And why does this increase your risk of coronavirus?
Immunocompromised individuals may also be at risk of losing out to coronavirus through indirect competition for treatment and the medications that allow them to lead relatively normal lives.
‘I don’t want to risk my life for a paycheck’: immunosuppressed people grapple with returning to work
Elizabeth Groenweghe got a kidney transplant 14 years ago. She now takes several medications to prevent her body from rejecting her transplant organ. But these medications also weaken her immune system, putting her at higher risk of becoming seriously ill if she catches covid-19.
‘I felt this huge relief’: how antibody injections could free the immunosuppressed under Covid
FDA expected to issue full emergency authorization for periodic antibody injections, or PrEP, to complement vaccinations.
CDC
People with moderately to severely compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, and may not build the same level of immunity to 2-dose vaccine series compared to people who are not immunocompromised.
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