July 6th, 2023
Started in February 2020, the SAJO blog is providing information about pandemics, pathogens, infectious diseases and further important topics.
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Dear readers,
The PRICE of the PANDEMIC seems to be concentrating on the Post-Covid and Post-Vac syndromes. However, the true price of this pandemic will only be able to be estimated several years from now. Besides lives lost, ruined health, it will also include economic losses that cannot be tallied yet. The price was too high already, and it will rise. Still there are many “recovered” Covid-19 patients who are suffering from long term illness. Currently, more than 65 million people are suffering from Long-Covid (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2).
And there are thousands of cases of the so-called Post-Vac syndrome with quite similar symptoms. The latter is being used as an argument by the anti-vaxxers that the vaccine causes more harm than an infection. The numbers are telling an entirely different story.
We begin with a retrospect of our internal discussions from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2021, when the vaccines were rolled out. We, too, had asked ourselves, if we may advocate the vaccine, weighing advantages vs. disadvantages.
While the public was mostly discussing the “new mRNA-technology”, in scientific circles there was no question as to the number of big advantages it promised compared to conventional vaccines. The falsely named “dead vaccine” we already had explained in a previous post (https://www.sajo-innovation.de/blog/the-dead-vaccine-fairy-tale/). The mRNA-vaccines may be produced in a very fast and inexpensive way, and in copious amounts. It is safe, since it does not include any viral replication machinery, and is produced and applied as a very pure product; it does not need any adjuvants that are coming with their own side-effects. The mRNA molecule is notoriously unstable (as anyone who had the pleasure to handle it in a laboratory will attest to), it needs a cold chain; this means that the molecule is disintegrated shortly – it disappears after doing its duty within a cell: To make the cells produce the desired antigen (in the case of SARS-CoV-2 this would be the Spike protein). And this is the conundrum any vaccine will face: The antigen in the vaccine has to correspond to one of the pathogen’s proteins. Now, we know that the Spike protein itself is involved in some of the Covid-19 symptoms. This had to be weighed in:
The mRNA vaccine is coming with a limited number of molecules that are being degraded in a short time. The virus itself is coming with a limited number as well, but it is multiplying exponentially. Thus, the body is being swamped with Spike protein during an infection.
In this context, there had been the allegation that mRNA vaccines would cause venous thromboembolisms (VTE). Last year, a study of more than 800,000 patients tested exactly how big the risk of VTE was after vaccination (https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2022.527). Compared to non-vaccinated persons, the risk of VTE was marginally (0.1%) increased. This was compared to the risk in COVID-19 patients. There, the VTE risk in hospitalized patients with 8% was many times higher!
This might be due to the fact, that a vaccine is causing a lot less Spike molecule production in the body than an infection. Another factor would be that SARS-CoV-2 when infecting a person, is entering cells all over the body. During infection, the Spike protein is disseminated much farther than with a vaccine; it may cause damage in all organs, even in the nervous system and the brain.
Now, it would be very interesting to see the genetic similarities of both patient groups (i.e. Post-Covid and Post-Vac). This might enable to find out, who has a predisposition for late sequelae. The task to find out lies with human geneticists. We hope our colleagues there are doing just that now. This necessitates thousands of patient samples, a lengthy process, but we think it worth trying, since this would enable decisions for or against a specific vaccine on an individual basis in the future.
One thing Long-Covid and Post-Vac patients do have in common, is the confrontation with the Spike protein. However, the percentage of Long-Covid patients is much bigger; current estimates are about 10% of infected individuals developing Long-Covid.
What has changed through the pandemic? A basic immunity of the population was attained – be it by infection or vaccines, or both. The virus has changed, it has adjusted to the situation pretty fast. New variants seem to be less life threatening, but they are spreading quietly. Hence, there are more and more repeat infections. The latter bears its own risk (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02051-3).
Every re-infection does not just increase the acute disease risk, but also the risk of sequelae. As mentioned above, the virus may attack any organ, even heart, brain, the vascular and the immune system; this has consequences. The risk for cardiovascular diseases and strokes is increased as is the risk for kidney disease, fatigue, and diabetes. This, everybody should be aware of.
Avoiding an infection now is an individual decision, by avoiding risky situations. This includes gatherings in closed space as well as the elevator within a building. You all know these situations and you know how to avoid them. This is one of the reasons we still have N95 masks at hand all the time.
Prevention starts with education. Unfortunately, we see no improvement in hygienic understanding in the German population. This lesson was failed to learn. Politics does not prepare for the next pandemic at all. We received a shot across the bow. We do not know the nature of the next pathogen, be it bacterial or viral in origin; all we know is that it is already on the way. Only the arrival time of the pandemic is open.
What do we see up to now? No change, politics and society continue just as before the pandemic, as if it had not happened; but it is continuing in the quiet.
To just wait and see, not to take the appropriate measures, not to take precautions, is exactly the wrong reaction. But this is exactly, what politics, society, and the mass media are practicing. COVID-19 does only happen in scientific literature anymore.
Regrettably, in Germany every promising medical research area is being funded in a repetitive way, with an indiscriminate all-around distribution. A waste of taxpayers’ money. Much better would be a concentration of competencies and a selective funding of few but outstanding institutions; this includes research driven companies as well.
SAJO may make a strong contribution, since we developed a forward-looking technology to fight diverse pathogens. Get into contact with us. All sides will profit.
In the upcoming post we are recommending our literature and music for the summer. Please look forward to it and let yourself be infected with our enthusiasm.
Yours, Joerg and Sabine
Dr. Sabine Breun and Dr. Joerg Baumann, both Ph.D.s, virologists, immunologists, molecular biologists and founders of SAJO. Both are specialized in infectious diseases. Since the 90s, Dr. Baumann has been working on zoonoses and how pathogens overcome the species barrier. Since 2000, Dr. Breun works on the interaction of viruses with the immune system. Both work as team. SAJO enables new antivirals – antivirals of the next generation to fight pandemics.
During their scientific carreers, both performed scientific work for 5 years at the National Cancer Institute in a US elite program on competitive US scholarships.
SAJO – for a healthy and better future!
SAJO is consulting all around infectious diseases. We are applying our know-how, that we have acquired in more than 20 years. We do what we can to fight this pandemic.
This is post No. 254. To our delight our blog is receiving a lot of readers, we love to share our know-how and expertise. Please feel free to share the link – it is an informative tool to fight this pandemic and upcoming threats.
(Note: We are no members of political parties, religious congregations, or societies. We value independence, sovereignty, and freedom. With our blog we are providing purely scientific advice, without conflict of interest, altruistic. We are not being paid for it.)
The SAJO high technology (the heart of SAJO) allows for the identification and isolation of next generation antiviral and antibacterial components for the development of new drugs, for prevention or therapy. This is what we do best – these are our USP and our strength.
#1 We want to treat, cure and prevent infectious diseases with new therapeutic drugs. Calls for investments and financing are open. If you aim at the same goal, then please get into contact with us.
#2 Should you like to have SAJO antivirals or antibacterials, or to give a contract, or need consultation, or to invest into SAJO, please do not hesitate to contact us. You may use the form on our homepage or phone number or email. We are looking forward to talking to you.
The SAJO business model: https://www.sajo-innovation.de/sajo-Flyer.pdf
Visit Sabine at XING https://www.xing.com/profile/Sabine_Breun and Jörg at LinkedIn https://de.linkedin.com/in/j%C3%B6rg-baumann-phd-0710b11a3