Never as in these days dramatically marked by the pandemic have the words immunity, neutralizing antibodies, viral variants and vaccination been so present in the media, on social networks, in the population. What does the comparison with Sars-CoV 2 teach us about the meaning of these words?
Covid, the green light for the Pfizer vaccine arrives on adolescents aged 12 to 15 years
by Donatella Zorzetto
Covid vaccines for teens, how they work and which ones could be approved
by Valeria Pini
Who defends us is the immune system, with innate and adaptive immunity, distinct but cooperating functions, as communicating vessels. The innata is a set of physical and biological barriers: skin and mucous membranes, in particular that of the nasopharynx, continuously patrolled by phagocytic cells and non-specific anti-infectious molecules that kill or contain the invader, as well as symbiont bacteria that compete with it for vital spaces.
Covid vaccine side effects: “Why does it hurt me and others don’t?”
by Donatella Zorzetto
A system that preserves, through epigenetic mechanisms, a short (weeks) memory of what is happening and informs through soluble mediators, cytokines, the adaptive immunity of the encounter with the pathogen. This processes powerful and specific molecules, antibodies, and B and T lymphocyte cells, intended to neutralize and, if it succeeds, to eliminate the pathogen, as well as to preserve, through clonal selection, a long (years) memory of this specific meeting.
Anti-Covid vaccines: the rules for children and adolescents
by Donatella Zorzetto
Memories, short and non-specific, or long and specific, they help us to better manage a subsequent encounter with the intruder. Overcoming this formidable defensive machine is not easy and only very few microbes, the pathogenic ones, succeed: the perfidious crowned is one of them. The barriers overcome them when they are made less performing by senescence and / or concomitant diseases, and we inhale a high quantity of the coronato, which the latest studies evaluate around the one hundred thousand viral particles. Se, pur senescent and ammolorati, we are not quickly overwhelmed by the viral invasion and the profound inflammation that follows, neutralizing antibodies and adaptive immunity killer lymphocytes help us heal. The however, the virus counterattacks with mutations, those of the viral variants, which in part evade immunity and cause reinfections.
There is life beyond Covid-19
by Fiammetta Cupellaro
The vaccination immunologically simulates the infection without going through the harsh experience of the disease. It is a very special achievement of biomedical research. It reproduces the protective essence of immunity, both innate and adaptive, and can suffer, as do those recovered from the disease, from attack by mutated viruses and re-infections. Variants have so far not been able to evade all defenses: cured and vaccinated, even if re-infected, they avoid hospitalization and serious illness. The future will tell us if this partial but important victory is definitive.
Can I go to the beach after the vaccine?
by Giulia Masoero Regis
“To get out of the pandemic we have to vaccinate the whole world”
of Kristalina Georgieva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, David Malpass, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
* Former director of the ISS department of infectious diseases. Member of the American Academy of Microbiology
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