A SCIENTIST who says he contaminated himself with coronavirus TWICE has warned of a “wave of mass reinfections” and claimed vaccines won’t cease folks falling in poor health.
Prof Alexander Chepurnov, 69, caught Covid-19 for the primary time in February – then claimed he deliberately got it again to check if he nonetheless had antibodies.
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Dr Alexander Chepurnov says he caught coronavirus twice as an experimentCredit score: The Siberian Occasions
The scientist intentionally uncovered himself to contaminated sufferers to check his antibodies months after he recovered from the primary boutCredit score: The Siberian Occasions
Now the senior virologist has demanded an pressing examine of individuals catching it twice and accused Russian authorities of not taking the danger critically.
He hit again at medical chief Anna Popova for “closing her eyes” to the problem of reinfections within the nation amid rising anecdotal studies of such instances.
“That is an extremely vital situation, and we should examine it,” mentioned Prof Chepurnov, senior researcher on the Institute of Medical and Experimental Medication in Novosibirsk.
“I is likely to be utterly fallacious, and these had been certainly simply (a couple of) particular person instances.
“Or probably I’m proper, and we’re about to face a wave of mass reinfections.”
He hit again at Dr Popova’s insistence there have been no second infections in Russia and that his claims to have caught it twice had been pretend.
“Alexander Chepurnov is an aged man, and I can solely go him my needs for good well being,” she mentioned.
“To reveal himself to sufferers whereas not sporting a masks is anyway nonsense for a physician, no matter whether or not he was sick previously or not.
“We’ve investigated this example and had been unable to search out proof that this was truly a reinfection.”
INFECTED TWICE
He has since insisted he has documentary proof of his first and second infections.
“I’m afraid that Anna Popova is mistaken,” he mentioned.
Russia’s well being minister Mikhail Murashko additionally contradicted Dr Popova to say that there had been reinfection instances.
Prof Chepurnov, who says he first caught coronavirus on a snowboarding vacation in Italy, turned well-known in Russia when he used himself as a guinea pig.
He mentioned his private experiment confirmed he had antibodies for 3 months after his first an infection, after which they lowered.
He then intentionally uncovered himself to Covid sufferers whereas not sporting protecting gear – and caught it once more.
The second bout was worse and he ended up in hospital with double pneumonia, however has since recovered, he mentioned.
The experiment led him to conclude hopes of “herd immunity” in a population are “overblown” and even that vaccines counting on antibodies may solely work for a couple of months.
What’s herd immunity?
Herd immunity refers to the place sufficient folks in a inhabitants have immunity to an an infection to have the ability to successfully cease that illness from spreading.
Herd immunity is often finest achieved with vaccination.
Whereas the time period herd immunity is broadly used, it may well carry quite a lot of meanings.
The NHS outlines “herd immunity” as when sufficient folks in a group are vaccinated in opposition to a illness, making it harder for it to unfold to vulnerable people who haven’t but been or can’t be vaccinated.
Lecturers from the London Faculty of Hygiene and Tropical Medication wrote that whereas some use the time period to explain the proportion of people in a group who’re proof against a situation, others use it in reference to “a selected threshold proportion of immune people that ought to result in a decline in incidence of an infection”.
They added: “A standard implication of the time period is that the danger of an infection amongst vulnerable people in a inhabitants is lowered by the presence and proximity of immune people.”
He mentioned: “We’d like a vaccine that can be utilized a number of occasions, a recombinant vaccine won’t go well with.
“As soon as injected with an adenoviral vector-based vaccine, we cannot have the ability to repeat it as a result of the immunity in opposition to the adenoviral provider will maintain interfering.”
The professor previously labored at State Analysis Vector Centre of Virology and Biotechnology in Siberia, makers of Russia’s second Covid vaccine referred to as EpiVacCorona.
Vladimir Putin has boasted the success of EpiVacCorona got here after the “92 per cent efficient” Sputnik V jab, which has already been given to 1000’s of Russians – though not the president.
In the meantime, within the UK, a new major study said that Britain is “miles off” achieving herd immunity – and will by no means attain pure ranges of safety.
Scientists at Imperial School London mentioned immunity is “waning” and famous a 26 per cent drop in optimistic antibody exams in three months.
Anna Popova, Russia’s Chief State Sanitary Doctor, denied anybody has been contaminated twice with coronavirus within the nationCredit score: Getty Pictures – Getty
Herd immunity is unlikely to cease the unfold of coronavirus, the Russian virologist claimedCredit score: Vector
