“I heard that the younger you are, the worse the after-effects will be”.
“I heard that you can’t take antipyretic Medicine or it will cause the vaccine to be less effective.”
As of March 8, more than 310,000 people have been vaccinated with the new crown pneumonia vaccine in Korea cumulatively, and similar claims have started to circulate on the internet. But is it true or not?
Among those who have recently received the vaccine, there is a common rumor that adverse reactions are more pronounced in young people between 20 and 40 years old after receiving the vaccine. A specialist in his 30s at a university hospital in the capital circle said, “I heard from my doctor colleagues that serious general discomfort began to appear from about 12 hours after vaccination,” and that “on the contrary, older people had less reactions. Yu Jin-hong, president of the Korean Infection Society (professor of the Department of Infection Medicine at Our Lady of Bucheon Hospital), who detailed his symptoms of generalized muscle pain and fever after the vaccination through social networks, also said, “I will be 60 the day after tomorrow, and at least in the hospital, I am the only one in my age group who had this kind of adverse reaction,” “I heard that younger people are more likely to have severe symptoms.”
The results of an analysis of more than 3,600 adverse reactions reported up to March 6 after the launch of the vaccination on February 26 by the vaccination promotion team for the new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) vaccine also showed that a higher proportion of young people reported adverse reactions, in order of proportion, in their 20s (3.0%), 30s (1.7%), 40s (1.0%), 50s ( 0.7%) and 60s (0.4%).
An employee is receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in the morning of March 8 at the New Crown Pneumonia vaccination room at the Tongjak District health Center in Seoul.
Experts have analyzed that the more healthy young people are, the more intense the immune response after vaccination may be the reason for this phenomenon. Kim Universe, a professor of infection medicine at Koryo University Guro Hospital, said, “From the clinical results of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, it is true that young people are prone to intense reactions and better antibody production,” and that “older people, because of their aging immune system, have a reduced preventive effect after vaccination and the side effects are intensity is also lower.” Choi Won-seok, a professor of infection medicine at Ansan Hospital, Koryo University, said, “When receiving the flu vaccine, young people who are receiving it for the first Time also often have reactions such as muscle pains and fever,” and “We are all receiving the new crown pneumonia vaccine for the first time, and the better the immune response, the greater the possibility of adverse reactions. The better the immune response, the greater the likelihood of adverse reactions, which indicates that the immune response of the vaccinated person is more active”.
Professor Yu Zhenhong said, “(adverse reactions) are the result of our body’s immune cells starting to work and producing a variety of substances such as cytokines that can mimic some of the symptoms of the initial stage of infection with the New Coronavirus in our body”, “The younger the person, the more active the secretion of cytokines and the greater the reaction will be greater”.
A similar explanation was given by the Korean Epidemic prevention department in a March 8 briefing. Jung Young-kyung (director of disease management), head of the New Crown Pneumonia Vaccination Promotion Team, said, “All vaccines are the same in that they cause an immune response in the body by injecting antigenic substances into the body, so it is easy to cause reactions such as fever or muscle pain,” and “The strength of the immune response caused by the antigen entering the body varies from person to person. The intensity of the immune reaction caused by the antigen entering the body varies from person to person, and young people with an active immune response may feel the reaction more strongly”.
In this case, the recommendation issued by the Korean Doctors Association on March 6 has caused misunderstandings. The doctors’ association recommended that “if you have a fever of less than 38.5 degrees Celsius, have a reaction of less than 24 hours, and are not particularly uncomfortable, try not to take antipyretic drugs” as “it may affect the effect of antibody production.
However, Kim Dae-ha, a spokesperson for the Korea Medical Association, said, “It’s not that we don’t want people to take antipyretic drugs,” but “according to foreign research results, taking antipyretic drugs may affect the effect of antibody production, so if you don’t have a high fever or are particularly uncomfortable, try not to take antipyretic drugs. If you have a fever of 38.5 degrees Celsius or more, or feel particularly uncomfortable, you can take antipyretic drugs, and it is recommended that you choose acetaminophen (paracetamol) to reduce fever, which has less effect on antibody production. The epidemic prevention department also said on the same day that “simple antipyretic and analgesic drugs such as acetaminophen that have no anti-inflammatory effect can be taken when uncomfortable symptoms appear after vaccination.”
Professor Kim Woo-joo said, “If I feel that it affects my daily Life, I can take the medicine regardless of the degree of fever”, “You can take acetaminophen first, and if the symptoms are still very serious, you can further choose anti-inflammatory drugs with anti-inflammatory effects such as naproxen and ibuprofen according to the situation, and if If the symptoms are still not relieved, it is recommended to go to the hospital”.
In addition, experts stressed that as of March 8, there were 33 cases of serious adverse reactions after vaccination with suspected anaphylactic shock reactions in Korea, and detailed investigations need to be conducted one by one. Prof. Kim Woo-joo said, “The cumulative number of vaccinated people exceeded 300,000, and 33 cases of suspected anaphylactic shock reactions are equivalent to a probability of one in 10,000,” and that “scientific analysis is needed to determine whether this phenomenon is a mere coincidence or some kind of signal indication.
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