Rome, March 18 (beraking latest news Health) – Monitoring the immune response in the vaccinated population against Covid 19. This is the goal of two studies by the Higher Institute of Health. The first, in collaboration with the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (Sigg), is dedicated to the elderly living in the RSA, the second is aimed at a wider population. As regards the latter, to study the immune response induced by vaccination, the ISS has launched a multicentre longitudinal study on healthy adults and frail elderly immunized with different types of anti-Covid-19 vaccine. The monitoring will involve a sample of 2,000 individuals for each of the vaccines currently available in the country and will include two groups: relatively healthy people between 30 and 65 years of age and frail people over the age of 65 (i.e. suffering from at least two comorbidities).
The study will allow to monitor the antibody response induced by vaccination and its duration. The antibody titre will be measured 1, 6 and 12 months after vaccination. Cell-mediated response will also be measured one year after vaccination. The collected data will provide information on the quantity and quality of the immune response induced by the different vaccines in frail adults and elderly and, as a preliminary, on the effectiveness in protecting against infection and / or disease.
With regard to RSA, the ISS and Sigg have just launched the GeroVax study to evaluate the efficacy, safety and duration of anti-Covid-19 vaccinations in the context of RSA, on the most fragile elderly in whom the immune response could be altered or inferior.
More than 300 elderly people have already been involved in 26 facilities in Lombardy, Calabria, Sicily, Lazio, Tuscany and Veneto to record any adverse reactions to the vaccine, but above all its effectiveness, monitoring new cases of Covid-19, access ready rescue, hospital admissions and mortality in the 12 months following vaccination. The duration of vaccination protection will also be assessed in a large group of participants, measuring the production of specific antibodies and cell-mediated immunity up to 12 months after the first dose.
The survey aims to involve 5,000 residents in 90 Rsa of 10 Italian regions, part of the network of the GeroCovid Rsa project promoted by Sigg, in the framework of a broader observational multicentre study, unique in Europe, born last March to collect data on the real situation of the elderly most exposed to the Covid threat.
To date, over 2,400 elderly people have already been enrolled in structures in Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Tuscany, Marche, Lazio, Calabria and Sicily. For the study, any adverse reactions to the vaccine will be recorded in the first 7 days after administration and above all its effectiveness will be assessed, by collecting the number of any new cases of Covid-19 at 6 and 12 months after the first dose. in the emergency room, hospitalization and mortality. Therefore, on a sample of 779 elderly people, the production of antibodies will be evaluated before the vaccine and at 2, 6 and 12 months after the first dose. In 40 patients the cell-mediated immune response will also be measured at 12 months after the vaccine. In this way it will be possible to estimate the duration of vaccination protection in the most vulnerable elderly.