The Retirement Newsletter: Where do we stand with COVID-19 and flu?

Issue Number: -20 — Will you be getting your jabs?

Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash

Welcome

Welcome to issue -20 — Where do we stand with COVID-19 and flu?

Winter is coming in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s time to start thinking about our COVID-19 and flu jabs.

Will you be getting your COVID-19 and flu jabs? Let me know in the comments below.

COVID-19 and flu

So, why should we get our COVID-19 and flu jabs? And, if you have stopped, will you start wearing a mask again?

COVID-19 and flu vaccinations

During my second-year undergraduate virus course, I remember studying flu and three things stuck with me:

• First, the Spanish flu in 1918 killed so many people — the surprise was that this was during my grandparents’ lifetime, yet they never mentioned it. The Spanish flu killed more people than the First World War. It’s estimated that between the first reported case in February 1918 and April 1920, around 500 million people worldwide (about a third of the population at the time) became infected, and between 25 and 50 million died.

• Second, the dramatic ‘antigenic shift’ in 1918. The lecturer showed us a graph of how much the virus had changed between 1917 and 1918. The change was striking — a big jump in the line on the graph.

• The third thing that surprised me, and I was on this course over 30 years ago, was the lecturer saying we were overdue for a new pandemic.

Flu (or, to give flu its full name — influenza) is caused by influenza viruses, of which there are four types (A, B, C and D), with only the A type causing what we call flu.

The flu virus is constantly evolving and, hence, changing. Three things drive this change:

• The virus gets new DNA and genes from other viruses. This happened with the Spanish Flu in 1918 when the flu virus acquired some new genes. This meant that the virus was very different from the previous flu cases. So, there was no natural immunity; hence, the virus spread quickly between humans as many hosts had no immunity.

• When the virus infects humans, it makes copies of itself, and this coping process is prone to errors. These errors may cause the virus to weaken (i.e. not be so infectious or cause less severe disease) or become more serious.

• Finally, a selection pressure works with the changes mentioned above. Suppose the changes mean the flu virus can evade the immune system of people previously vaccinated or infected. If the immune system no longer recognises it, that new virus will have an advantage and spread. That is a selection pressure — the new virus is selected in favour of the old.

We need a flu jab each year because the flu virus changes. We need to ‘show’ our immune system the new virus so it can detect and fight it before it can make millions of copies of itself and overwhelm our bodies. But, if the virus continually changes, how do we know which virus to ‘show’ the body in the flu vaccination?

Well, the flu is seasonal; we get it in the winter, and luckily for us, we have two winters — one in the Northern and one in the Southern Hemispheres. So, the scientists in the Northern Hemisphere track what is happening in the Southern and base the new vaccine on that virus. Likewise, the Southern Hemisphere looks at what happens during the winter in the Northern. Usually, this works, but every so often it doesn’t.

Hence, we need a new vaccination every year. Flu changes, and so we need a new vaccine.

COVID-19 is a similar story — but a bit different. With COVID-19, you will hear of new strains appearing. These new strains, like the flu, result from changes in the virus that can make it more infectious by evading our immune systems or entering our cells more efficiently. Hence, we need new jabs to recognise the new stains. And, if you have been following the news recently, you will know that a couple of new COVID-19 strains are doing the rounds.

There is also an added complication with COVID-19 in that our immune system forgets the virus it has seen in previous infections or vaccinations, so it needs a reminder — a fresh jab.

Will I be getting my flu and COVID-19 jabs for this winter? You bet I will. Will you? Please let me know in the comments.

And, is there anything we can do to help not get COVID-19 or the flu besides vaccinations? Well, there is, and it is straightforward: wear a mask.

COVID-19 and masks

There was a paper published recently (Evidence of leaky protection following COVID-19 vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection in an incarcerated population — you can find a summary here — COVID infection risk rises the longer you are exposed — even for vaccinated people) that shows something that seems so obvious.

In the study, the researcher used a prison population monitored for COVID-19. As they knew the infection and vaccination status of the prisoners, they could watch the transmission of COVID-19. They found that if a cell-mate had COVID-19, even when both parties were vaccinated, the non-infected person would also contract the virus. No matter the vaccination status, proximity and high levels of virus particles in the air resulted in infection. But, if a person in a cell block had the virus, it was less likely to transmit beyond the cellmate. Now, this shouldn’t be taken as a reason not to get vaccinated, as vaccination does have some impact on the severity of the disease.

The study showed that exposure to high virus levels increased infection levels, as expected in a cell. Thus, we need to reduce the amount of virus we come into contact with, and this can be done with good ventilation and by wearing a mask to stop the virus from entering our lungs.

So, will you wear a mask in crowded spaces where viral load could be high this winter? I will, and I already do when I visit my doctor’s surgery or the local hospital. I never stopped.

Will you start wearing a mask again? Please let me know in the comments below.

Travel — Nostalgia Corner

This week, here are some more of my stories from when I visited Myanmar (Burma):

• Myanmar (Burma) — The Nat Tree Shrines in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma) — Why are there shrines on the trees in Burma? I found these Shrines fascinating and loved how the trees ‘consumed’ them.

• Myanmar (Burma) — Drinking Water on the streets of Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma) — Where to get a drink of water in Myanmar? Although I never tried water from one of the pots, I thought it was a great idea, and I liked pots.

• Myanmar (Burma) — Bikes in Myanmar (Burma) — There are many ways to use a bike. When travelling around SE Asia, I was always amazed at how people used their bikes for more than riding around.

• Myanmar (Burma) — Street Photos of Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma) — Street life in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma). I enjoyed wandering around Yangon (Rangoon) and seeing people going about their day.

And next, yet more stories from Myanmar (Burma).

Next week

I have now had some time to work through the material I received from Pension Wise (see issue - 21 — What is evergreen income, and how did my chat with Pension Wise go?), and next week in Issue -19, I will tell you what I found out, and what I thought of the Pension Wise experience.

Thanks

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Until next time,

Nick

PS, If you want to contribute something to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.