Immunity Lessons From COVID-19: Natural Infection vs Vaccination
Investigators have learned invaluable lessons from 2 and a half years of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on human immunity. Is natural infection better for long-term protection against COVID-19 or is vaccination? What does the data say?
The studies that have come out of the COVID-19 pandemic about human immunity and the differences between immunity from infection or from vaccination are invaluable to the future of immunology and the fight against future serious infectious diseases. The differences between the 2 types of immunity and the confusion and misinformation surrounding them is an ongoing concern—not only for the COVID-19 vaccination, but all vaccinations.
Several of those studies focusing heavily on natural and vaccination immunity were conducted by Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad, PhD. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Infection Control Today® (ICT®), Ab-Raddad discussed some of these studies about immunity, vaccination hesitancy, and his presentation titled, "Immune protection of COVID -19 vaccination and natural infection," at the "Frontline Worker Safety in the Age of COVID-19: A Global Perspective” a Health Watch USA Webinar on September 14, 2022.
Abu-Raddad is a professor of Population Health Sciences, associate dean for Extramural Research Funding, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Disease Epidemiology Analytics on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, and viral hepatitis, director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Biomathematics Research Core at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar (WCM-Q), and the principal investigator of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group. He serves as a consultant or advisory member for several key public health projects for organizations such as the World Bank, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He was the lead author or co-investigator of several high impact studies in recent years such as in relation to HIV/AIDS, HCV, tuberculosis, and SARS.
Frontline Worker Safety in the Age of COVID-19: A Global Perspective on September 14, 2022 - a Health Watch USA Webinar
“It's very, important—more than ever—[to have] investment in the science of vaccination,” Abu-Raddad told ICT®. “And there are good reasons for this. We have been using vaccination as a tool of public health now for 2 centuries. But we have never been as lucky as now in terms of scientific advances in developing vaccines because now we have completely new tools that we never dreamed of to make very effective vaccines. We had very good recent example: the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19. For me, it's very important for us to continue investments in vaccine development because we have a range of other public health challenges that we need to deal with beyond COVID-19 where vaccination could be very useful. Also, it's very important for the wider public to appreciate that this technology will have actually amazing improvements in our health.”
Immunities Studies by Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.06.22277306v1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35945213/
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.11.22277448v1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34614327/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35654888/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35263534/
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.17.22272529v1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35704396/
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.08.23.22279026v1
Uncovering a Hidden Risk: Alcohol Use Disorder Significantly Increases C difficile Infection Rates
April 10th 2025A groundbreaking study reveals a strong connection between alcohol use disorder and increased risk for Clostridioides difficile infection, challenging traditional assumptions and calling for enhanced infection prevention protocols.
Bridging the Gap: Operating Room and Central Processing Unite to Improve Surgical Efficiency
April 8th 2025Communication breakdowns between the operating room and central processing led to delays and frustration—until collaboration, cross-training, and shared goals turned metrics around and strengthened teamwork.
