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According to a new study, fever, chills and fatigue may be symptoms of antibody production.
By Apoorva Mandavilli
Apoorva Mandavilli has been writing about coronavirus immunity since March 2020.
A new study contains an encouraging message for Americans getting vaccinated against Covid because of concerns about side effects: The chills, fatigue, headaches and discomfort that can appear after vaccination could be symptoms of a vigorous immune response.
People who had those side effects after the second dose of the Covid vaccine had more antibodies to the coronavirus one month and six months after the shot, than those who had no symptoms, according to the new study. Increases in skin temperature and central rate also reported higher levels of antibodies.
“We know that vaccine uptake can be challenging and, in some cases, possibly due to other people having strong reactions to the vaccine,” said Aric Prather, a clinical psychologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the study. study. .
“I hope this literally helps alleviate some of those concerns,” said Dr. Prather, who studies how the immune system reacts. “In fact, those symptoms, while they may be unpleasant, can actually work for you. “
The study was published online last week. It has not been reviewed for publication in a clinical journal. But several experts said it worked well and its effects were consistent with other research.
The relative buildup of antibody levels in those who experienced side effects is small and doesn’t mean other people without symptoms won’t develop a strong immune response, experts said.
“The absence of side effects should not be taken as a sign that the vaccine is not working,” said Alessandro Sette, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Innovation at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology, who was not involved in the work.
An earlier study found that 98 percent of people who didn’t experience any adverse effects still produced large amounts of antibodies, compared with 99 percent of those who had localized or worse symptoms, Dr. Sette said.
However, the new findings suggest that people who are going through a difficult time after vaccination are more likely to resist the virus well. “If you’re feeling unwell, there’s a good chance you’ll amplify a fairly moderate dose of immune response,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the new study.
In a study published last year, Dr. Bhattacharya and colleagues looked at the vaccine responses of 2,354 people, about a portion of whom took a painkiller to ease the side effects of the shot.
In mice, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, severely impair immune reactions to the coronavirus. But Dr. Bhattacharya’s team found that in humans, the drugs did inhibit the immune reaction to Covid vaccines.
In addition, those who took a painkiller gave the impression of having more antibodies than those who tolerated symptoms without medication. The ultimate explanation is probably not that painkillers increase antibody levels, Dr. Bhattacharya said.
“Rather, it’s that other people who have symptoms have a tendency to have a greater antibody reaction than those who don’t have them and, of course, other people who do have symptoms are more likely to take painkillers,” he said.
Other studies have also found that people with self-reported side effects, such as fever, chills, body aches and fatigue, had more antibodies than those without.
In the new array, Dr. Prather and his colleagues tracked people’s antibody grades over time. When the vaccines were introduced in December 2020, they rushed to recruit participants through classified ads placed in newspapers, television, and social media.
At that time, a giant component of the U. C. S. F. it was still closed, so they seized a Pilates studio in the university gymnasium, moved the apparatus and brought in phlebotomists to draw blood from the components. Scientists ruled out anyone with symptoms of coronavirus infection. before or studying.
“We knew we had this era of very limited time where other people were rushing to get vaccinated,” Dr. Prather said. “It was an intense time, but we had to do what we had to do. “
The team tracked the symptoms of 363 participants who received the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Covid vaccines for six days after the dose, and gave some participants biometric devices to record their temperature, breathing and heart rate.
The researchers found that those who had seven separate side effects (adding chills, fatigue, malaise and headache) produced nearly twice as many antibody levels as those who reported no symptoms. And an increase in skin temperature of just one degree Celsius predicted three times as much. antibody levels six months after the second dose.
The study measured coverage against the Wuhan variant, the original version of the coronavirus. Studies would be difficult to conduct now because other people have already had infections or injections that could affect their immune responses, Dr. Prather said.
Current Covid vaccines are designed to protect against the XBB. 1. 5 Omicron subvariant, but the effects are still applicable to all vaccine iterations, experts said.
The rollout of the Covid vaccine this fall has been bumpy, with appointments cancelled and confusion over insurance coverage. But about 4 million Americans received the vaccine last month, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Apoorva Mandavilli is a journalist specializing in science and global health. He was part of the team that won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its pandemic policy. Learn More about Apoorva Mandavilli
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