I am grateful to one of my lovely patients who has agreed for me to share some of her data anonymously, as I think it’s very important and could potentially have an impact on government policy regarding the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
She is 49 years of age. She was self-isolating before Christmas and had two negative SARS CoV 2 PCR tests (run by a proper laboratory), which were both negative in the space of a week, prior to seeing her family for Christmas. A friend came to her house without a mask and with symptoms. She was not allowed into the house, but she had a conversation with the friend on the doorstep. Three days later my patient started developing symptoms. The friend subsequently tested positive PCR for COVID 19.
My patient had a sore throat, gastric symptoms, a rash on the leg, rigors/chills at night
(she says temperature normal), palpitations, breathlessness and high anxiety, no chest pain or headache. Very tired and didn’t eat for a couple of weeks she tested positive SARS CoV 2 PCR 3/7 after symptoms started. She felt that her high anxiety was a driver for at least some of her symptoms.
I suspect that the anxiety in many COVID suffers drives a large increase in breathing rate, decreasing CO2 and aggravating symptoms, in the absence of severe pulmonary pathology. Low levels of CO2 compromised oxygen delivery on a cellular level. Breathing fast and deeply does nothing to improve the situation and can often make it worse.
I think it’s also relevant that she has a history of suffering from “Christmas flu”. When people are working very hard and are not looking after themselves, during that period the levels of stress hormones increase as does up-regulation of the stress nervous system. It simply keeps on going. However, once they break for Christmas (or indeed any time away from work such as holidays etc) the stress hormone levels plummet and they are more vulnerable, such as an increased risk of picking up infections.
It has been an incredibly hard and stressful year for the entire country and world. Given that Christmas flu is such a known phenomenon, I suspect that this has had a large impact on the massive increase of cases we have seen over the past month or so, not helped by the mutation in the coronavirus.
I’m glad to report that she is feeling a lot better after a few difficult weeks and my support over the next few weeks will be trying to ensure she minimises her risk of developing “long Covid” symptoms.
I ran the new SARS CoV 2 S (Spike protein) Roche antibody test on her. She was one of the first patients in the UK to receive this new antibody test. Which is appropriate for patients to have had COVID-19 and or had a COVID 19 vaccine (at least 14 days after symptoms or immunisation)
She had a positive result to Spike protein antibodies.
This test also gives a numerical unit to gauge the immunity response. She was > 2500 U/ml, suggesting very strong levels of immunity to the coronavirus spike protein.
I’m going to follow up with regularly testing on her for the next few months to see how long this level of immunity lasts. Latest research suggests at least 5 to 6 months post COVID 19 infection.
Many millions of people in the UK have now had a first dose of COVID 19 vaccine. It will be interesting to at least track some of those people in terms of their own developing of spike protein antibodies and thus their immunity.
I suppose it begs the question, regarding a blog I posted last week, showing that research suggests that immunity post COVID-19 infection may well be as good as immunisation. If this really is the case, I wonder whether the government is going to consider this and possibly delay people with this high level of immunity until later on in the year and concentrate on those who have not had Covid or who are more vulnerable.
http://www.thehealthequation.co.uk/covid-victims-gain-immunity-from-the-virus/
The NHS suggests that patients who have had a positive PCR test or symptoms of COVID should wait until at least 28 days to have the vaccine (from the onset of when the symptoms started or had a positive PCR result). I guess the question is why this guidance? Perhaps with strong immunity levels from having had COVID may cause an over reactivity of the immune system if given the vaccine and thus increased rick of side effects.
I will be offering the test to all patients who had had a positive PCR test or who have received the vaccine.