2024-09-28 04:29:47
Germany coughs and sniffles. The coronavirus is very often the trigger. How good is the new vaccine?
Every autumn the number of respiratory diseases increases. The Robert Koch Institute reports in its current weekly report that around eight million Germans are currently suffering from such a disease. Striking: After rhinoviruses, which cause the classic cold, coronaviruses are the second most common cause of coughs and colds.
The new adapted vaccine from Biontech has been on the market since August. It is tailored to an Omicron variant that has been dominant in Germany since the beginning of the year: JN.. How effective is it against the sublineages KP.3.1.1? The Hannover Medical School investigated this.
“Because new SARS-CoV-2 variants and subspecies are constantly emerging, the corona vaccines have to be constantly adapted, similar to flu viruses,” says the medical school. In their own study, the researchers measured the immune response of 42 MHH employees who had been vaccinated with the new booster.
The result: around two weeks after the vaccination, the antibodies against the currently predominant omicron variant increased significantly. According to MHH, the data on immune responses in humans had not previously been proven. The study leaders assume that a vaccination with the new booster protects against serious illnesses