Zhang Wenhong mentioned that the research data published by his team showed that the new crown vaccine has a significant protective effect on the elderly, and the severe rate of elderly patients with new crown is relatively high, but after vaccination, the protection ability of this group of people is greatly improved.
At the 2022 Medical Virology Conference of the Chinese Medical Association held on December 3, Zhang Wenhong, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, said that with the new changes in the new crown virus, there are currently some new The clinical characteristics of the disease, and the entire epidemic prevention model is gradually changing. At present, the protection of vulnerable groups such as the elderly, especially those with underlying diseases and chronic diseases, is the key point for us to get out of the epidemic.
Zhang Wenhong, from a clinical perspective, from March and April 2020, his team believed that the spread of the new coronavirus would not end in June of that year. This was mainly judged from the characteristics of the virus expansion. After virological monitoring of the new crown patients, it was found that the evolution of the new crown virus is very fast, but what is driving the virus to continue to evolve, this issue has also aroused fierce debate among many scientists.
“The new coronavirus starts from the original strain and evolves to Alpha, Beta, and Delta after mutation. Each wave of evolution is very fast, and the latter can quickly replace the former. However, after vaccination, we have no virus in patients. Scientific monitoring has found that the mutation of the virus has converged. At present, the mutation of the virus is limited to the Omicron family. Although the evolution of the virus is random and has no direction, after vaccination or repeated infection, the immunity of the human body will be against the virus. Mutations of the
Zhang Wenhong believes that the direction of virus evolution is to break through the pressure brought by human immunity, so it will mutate in the direction of faster and faster transmission, so that the genes can be passed on and spread, but through vaccination or Repeated infection will continue to put pressure on the virus, which will make it very difficult for each virus to mutate, and the amount of mutations is also decreasing, and each mutation seems to jump out of the gap. But we know that biological evolution is limited. In the field of virus transmission, the speed of virus transmission is currently impossible to surpass the speed of lightning. At present, the evolution direction of Omicron is restricted, and it is unlikely that there will be a leap-forward evolution within 2-3 months. The leap-forward evolution requires genetic recombination.
“From the current point of view, although Omicron has many subtypes, its leapfrog evolution seems extremely difficult, because the R0 value (R0 value is the spread index, the higher the R0, the faster the spread) has reached a maximum of 18 At present, only the R0 value of measles has reached the level of 12-18.” Zhang Wenhong said frankly,The spread of the virus has been increasingly limited through vaccinations, treatments, and especially vaccinations.
Zhang Wenhong mentioned that during the Shanghai Great Defense War,The research data published by his team shows that the new crown vaccine has a significant protective effect on the elderly, and the severe rate of elderly patients with new crown is relatively high, but after vaccination, the protection ability of this group of people is greatly improved.In addition to elderly patients, there are also dialysis patients, heart disease patients, etc. who also belong to the group of severe patients with new crowns. Metabolic diseases, chronic kidney disease, long-term bed rest, and tumor patients are all “vulnerable” factors for the severity of new crown patients.
“Among the vulnerable population, 10% are severely ill due to the new crown, and 90% are severely ill due to underlying diseases. The two severe illnesses together constitute the severe disease spectrum of the new crown. This makes our future treatment ideas more and more clear. With a certain degree of medical resources running out, the mortality rate caused by Omicron will increase, especially the mortality rate of the elderly will increase.Therefore, it is very important to protect vulnerable groups such as the elderly and those with underlying diseases.“Zhang Wenhong said.
Recently, Premier Sun Chunlan held a symposium to listen to opinions and suggestions on prevention and control, and mentioned “taking small steps without stopping” many times. In this regard, Zhang Wenhong believes that “taking small steps” means providing adequate protection for vulnerable groups. Singapore is very cautious in implementing protection for vulnerable groups. All aspects are very sufficient, reaching more than 90%. The 7-day case fatality rate is now very low, and the proportion among the vaccinated population is only 0.02%.Therefore, the key to getting out of the epidemic is the protection of vulnerable groups, and immune protection is a major focus.
But Zhang Wenhong also mentioned the problem of immune escape, that is, infection still occurs after vaccination. Regarding how to improve the efficacy of the vaccine, Zhang Wenhong suggested that when inoculating the third booster injection, choose a heterologous vaccination. In addition, he also called for a fourth dose of vaccination in the future.
He said that in the end, whether we can establish a population immunity barrier through immunization, some countries in the world have already shown this feature. The same is true from the experience of the Shanghai epidemic. Vaccination and repeated natural infections will continue to provide us with an immune barrier and immune pressure, which will continuously reduce the toxicity of the virus.
In terms of clinical treatment, Zhang Wenhong suggested that medication should be taken in the early stage of viral infection. “The real world in the world now tells us that in the early stage, if the drug is taken in time and within 5 days, the severe disease rate of the vulnerable population can be reduced by about 90%. Taking (drugs) can significantly reduce the rate of severe disease.”
Zhang Wenhong finally pointed out that we have been fighting against viruses in the past. There is a saying in the field of disease control that we have to race against and chase viruses. This is a competition between human beings to eliminate viruses and spread viruses. But today I can tell you,Through vaccination and drug treatment, we have entered the stage of virus domestication and control.Relying on our scientific and technological capabilities, the control of the virus epidemic in the future may not be to clear the nucleic acid, but to reduce the proportion of symptoms or severe cases to a very low level. I believe that the domestication of the new coronavirus can be achieved by humans in the future, and the future will definitely be better.
Author: Chen Sisi, source: The Paper, original title: “Zhang Wenhong: Providing adequate protection for vulnerable groups is the key to getting out of the new crown epidemic.”
Risk Warning and Disclaimer
Market risk, the investment need to be cautious. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, opinions or conclusions expressed herein are applicable to their particular situation. Invest accordingly at your own risk.