The Long-Term Impact of COVID-19
The COVID-19 vaccines are being promised as a solution to normal life. Although there are strict protections in place, there is growing concerns in response to the safety of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. [1]
What if the COVID-19 Vaccination Comes a Potential Nightmare Scenario? What if the vaccines reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, but not the transmissibility? Listen to Dr F. Perry Wilson of the Yale School of Medicine. [2]
The coronavirus is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. It primarily affects the respiratory system, such as interstitial pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. [3]
COVID-19 is associated with a severe innate immune response and sustained rise of systemic cytokine levels, as most patients show signs of T cell exhaustion with lower lymphocyte counts. [4]
There are at least four possible pathogenic mechanisms that may account for the detrimental effect of COVID-19 on the central nervous system (CNS):
Direct viral encephalitis
Systemic inflammation
Peripheral organ dysfunction (liver, kidney, lung), and
Cerebrovascular changes. [4]
Brain Inflammation Symptoms
High levels of oxidative stress and inflammation have been associated with impaired immune responses and long-lasting viral infections. [5]
According to a study researching the Immediate and long-term consequences of COVID-19 infections, the evidence strongly suggests that patients surviving COVID-19 have a higher risk for the development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. [4]
Types of Vaccines
Live attenuated vaccines (e.g. measles, mumps, and rubella [MMR] and varicella [chickenpox]): Contain a version of the living virus or bacteria that have been engineered to have substantially reduced virulence (weakened), so as not to cause serious disease in people with healthy immune systems. [7]
Inactivated vaccines (e.g. polio, hepatitis A and rabies): Are comprised of microorganisms that have been rendered non-infectious (killed) by chemical or physical means. Inactivated vaccines often require multiple doses to build up or maintain immunity. [8]
Toxoid vaccines (e.g. diphtheria and tetanus toxoids): Prevent diseases caused by bacteria that produce toxins (poisons) in the body. Toxoid vaccines are made from weakened toxic compounds rather than the microorganism. [8]
Subunit vaccines (e.g. pertussis or whooping cough, hepatitis B, human papillomavirus): These vaccines contain a fragment of the bacteria or virus (the essential antigens) rather than the entire germ, which makes side effects to the vaccine less common. [8]
Conjugate vaccines (Hib): Target specific bacteria that contain a polysaccharide outer coating, which makes it increasingly difficult for the immune system to recognise and respond to the antigen. [8]
Conjugate vaccines link polysaccharides to the antigen, enhancing immune system recognition. [8]
Nucleic acid-based vaccines (e.g. Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19): Genetic vaccines consisting of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) sequences that translate proteins to induce an immune response and code for a disease-specific antigen. [9,10]
Nucleic acid-based vaccines do not require the growth of highly pathogenic organisms at a large scale. This reduces the risk of contamination with live infectious reagents and the release of dangerous pathogens while decreasing manufacturing time. [11]
Viral vector vaccines (e.g. Oxford-Astra Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine): Use a modified, low-pathogenic virus, such as adenoviruses, parvoviruses or paramyxoviruses to function as a vector.
This transports one or more different pathogenic antigens into the cells of the host to induce an immune response against the target pathogen. [12]
Most Common Side-Effects of Vaccines
While millions of people are to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, very few are focusing on preparing themselves ahead of time by supporting their health before and after inoculation.
Vaccines are designed to prepare your immune response to recognise and fight specific bacterias and viruses that can cause serious illness. [13] This may explain why you may experience mild to moderate symptoms following vaccination.
According to the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most commonly reported side effects following the COVID-19 vaccination include: [14]
Injection site pain and swelling
Fatigue
Headache
Chills
Fever
Muscle and joint pain
Nausea
Delayed swelling, redness or a rash at the injection site
Swollen lymph nodes (typically manifests as a lump in your armpit or above your collarbone)
Adverse Events Following Immunisations
If you think you may be experiencing a side-effect due to a medicine, vaccine, or medical device, seek advice from a health professional as soon as possible and report the issue directly to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
What You Can Do To Protect Your Immune System
Poor nutritional status is considered to be a significant risk factor in determining the severity of COVID-19 infection. This suggests that nutritional support may play an important role in determining treatment outcomes. [6]
Foods to Protect Your Immune System
There is sizeable evidence demonstrating that food and nutrients affect the function of the immune system. [6]
This includes:
Adequate amounts of protein - particularly glutamine, arginine and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)
Increasing your ratio of omega-3, and reducing your levels of saturated, trans fats, and omega-6 fatty acids
Consuming low levels of refined processed foods and sugars
High-fibre content foods, such as whole grains, and green leafy vegetables.
Foods that reduce your inflammatory load. DOWNLOAD Your ANTI-INFLAMMATORY Food Guide.
Supplement to Protect Your Immune System
Micronutrients including vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin E, B vitamins, zinc, selenium, and iron, as well as phytochemicals can have a positive impact on immune function. [5,15]
A high-quality broad-spectrum probiotic may help reduce the incidence and severity of COVID-19 by maintaining the human gastrointestinal and lung microbiota and reducing your susceptibility to infectious diseases. [16]
Zinc may also play a protective role in the prevention and as an adjunctive treatment of the COVID-19 virus by reducing inflammation, improving mucociliary clearance, preventing ventilator‑induced lung injury, and modulation of antiviral and antibacterial immunity. [17]
A recent study among 185 patients that were diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 at a University Hospital in Germany showed more than a 90% lower mortality rate among the patients with sufficient vitamin D levels compared to those with a vitamin D deficiency. [18]
Want to Strengthen Your Immune System?
Let’s develop a personalised nutritional program to help you reduce inflammation, and oxidative stress and strengthen your immune system. Below is a nutritional protocol aimed at supporting health and well-being PRE and POST vaccination.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or feedback
+ References
[1] Australian Government Department of Health (2021). Accessed: April 13, 2021. https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-statement-on-astrazeneca-vaccine-in-response-to-new-vaccine-safety-concerns.
[2] With COVID vaccinations comes a potential nightmare scenario (2021). Accessed: April 13, 2021. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945433.
[3] Landi F, et al. “Post-COVID-19 Global Health Strategies: the Need for an Interdisciplinary Approach.” Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, vol. 32, no. 8, 2020, p. 1613–1620.
[4] Heneka, M. T. et al. (2020) “Immediate and long-term consequences of COVID-19 infections for the development of neurological disease,” Alzheimer’s research & therapy, 12(1), p. 69.
[5] Iddir, Mohammed, et al. “Strengthening the Immune System and Reducing Inflammation and Oxidative Stress through Diet and Nutrition: Considerations during the COVID-19 Crisis.” Nutrients, vol. 12, no. 6, 2020, p. 1562.
[6] Yang, Ya, et al. “COVID-19 in Elderly Adults: Clinical Features, Molecular Mechanisms, and Proposed Strategies.” Aging and Disease, vol. 11, no. 6, 2020, p. 1481–1495.
[7] Shukla VV, Shah RC. Vaccinations in primary care. Indian J Pediatr. 2018 Dec;85(12):1118-1127. doi: 10.1007/s12098-017-2555-2.
[8] Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Understanding how vaccines work [Internet]. Atlanta, Georgia: 2018 [updated 2018 Jul;cited 2021 Feb 18]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-understand-color-office.pdf.
[9] Zhang C, Maruggi G, Shan H, Li J. Advances in mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases. Front Immunol. 2019 Mar 27;10:594. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00594.
[10] Pardi N, Hogan MJ, Porter FW, Weissman D. mRNA vaccines - a new era in vaccinology. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2018 Apr;17(4):261-279. doi: 10.1038/nrd.2017.243.
[11] Pardi N, Hogan MJ, Porter FW, Weissman D. mRNA vaccines - a new era in vaccinology. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2018 Apr;17(4):261-279. doi: 10.1038/nrd.2017.243.
[12] Rauch S, Jasny E, Schmidt KE, Petsch B. New vaccine technologies to combat outbreak situations. Front Immunol. 2018 Sep 19;9:1963. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01963.
[13] Australian Government Department of Health (2021). Accessed: April 13, 2021. https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/learn-about-covid-19-vaccines/how-do-covid-19-vaccines-work?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsO7jgfnt7wIVjHZgCh23kwy5EAAYAiAAEgILvvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds.
[14] CDC (2021) Possible side effects after getting a COVID-19 vaccine, Cdc.gov. Accessed: April 11, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html.
[15] Alkhatib, Ahmad. “Antiviral Functional Foods and Exercise Lifestyle Prevention of Coronavirus.” Nutrients, vol. 12, no. 9, 2020, p. 2633.
[16] Olaimat Amin N, et al. “The Potential Application of Probiotics and Prebiotics for the Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19.” NPJ Science of Food, vol. 4, no.1, 2020. p 17.
[17] Skalny, Anatoly, et al. “Zinc and Respiratory Tract Infections: Perspectives for COVID‑19 (Review).” International Journal of Molecular Medicine, vol. 46, no. 1, 2020, p. 17–26.
[18] Brenner H. Vitamin D supplementation to prevent COVID-19 infections and deaths-accumulating evidence from epidemiological and intervention studies calls for immediate action. Nutrients. 2021;13(2):411.